Finding Forever
by MK-James
Summary: Troy and Gabriella head off to college and test their relationship to new challenges and they explore their physical relationship as well as their strong emotional connection in supporting each other through hardships and triumphs. This is a Troyella story!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

**Hello everyone,**

**A few things: I try to stay as close to the intended story and characters of HSM in this, but that being said all the characters outside the HSM ones are made up (such as the basketball players from Berkeley) and I also cannot vouch for the accuracy of my portrayal of Berkeley and Stanford themselves...so don't bother pointing out the fact that freshmen at Berkeley don't stay in apartment like dorms...I already know! :-) **

**Lastly, this is just something I started and might continue if people seem to like it. Lemme know! Otherwise...I hope you enjoy!**

**-Kenzie**

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* * *

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Troy was finishing toweling off his hair as he sat down on the stool in front of his locker area. Four of his teammates: Lucas James, Travis McLean, Scott Saracen, and Durrell Allen walked in laughing and joking around. Durrell spotted Troy,

"What ya say Troy, ya in?"

Troy furrowed his brow in confusion before answering, "Depends, whatcha talkin' about?"

"Wicked party tonight off campus, lots of booze and chicks"

Saracen, the junior team captain, rolled his eyes and punched Durrell in the arm, "'Rell give it a rest already…we have another morning practice tomorrow." Luke, Travis and Troy all groan making Saracen laugh, "What's wrong freshmen….can't hack college ball?" Troy threw his towel at Saracen and pulled his shirt over his head. Wasn't it the truth? College ball was kicking Troy's ass…and school hadn't even started yet.

"It's not the ball, it's these 5am practices man…" Travis and Luke nod in agreement.

"All apart of the scene gentlemen," he chuckled and threw the towel back at Troy who sighs, rubbing his tired eyes and yawning.

"So? What you all say?" Durrell coaxed. Troy let out a scoff and shook his head,

"Man….it's all I can do to keep my eyes open, let alone party…"

"I'm with Troy, sorry bro." Luke replied.

"Lame! I'll be the one with all the tail tonight it seems! Saracen? Trav?"

Saracen shook his head, "Nah man, date with Em' tonight…with all these practices before semester I have hardly seen her which is incredibly unfair to her..." This brought thoughts of Troy's own girlfriend to his mind: Gabriella. Over the summer he had had basketball practices so he had to move-in to the athlete housing early. Fortunately Gabi was also in California, unfortunately she was at Stanford and he was at Berkeley…an hour a way. He took comfort in the fact that it was Thursday morning however because she would be up to see him soon since her summer classes were only on Wednesday and Thursday. She spent most of her free time at Berkeley even it meant a lot of that time was taken, regretfully, by her studying.

"Well, count me in."

Durrell slaps Travis hand, "At least one of you guys likes women and beer."

"Hey! Shut the fuck up bitch" Saracen smiled as he punched Durrell playfully. Troy sighed, already worn out for the day, "Alright guys I'm headed out."

* * *

Troy walked into the dorm/apartment he shared with the other two freshmen on the team: Luke and Travis. Luke, a 6'10 center from Michigan, followed in before shutting the door as Troy collapsed on the couch.

"You hungry dude?" Troy doesn't answer Luke because he is already falling asleep: one leg hanging off the edge of the couch and his forearm covering his eyes. Troy heard the question, but can't bring himself to answer as he falls into a slumber trying to block out all his stresses clouding his mind: practice, teammates, upcoming classes, the fact that the air conditioning seemed to be broken…AGAIN, and how much he missed his amazing girlfriend whom he would be seeing a lot less of come the start of the fall semester. He is suddenly jerked awake when Luke kicked him. Troy groans, "Ugggh… What?" His voice thick with annoyance.

"Dude. Food?You hungry?"

Troy sighed, "I guess, but I'm too tired to eat."

"Whatever man…I thought you said you were going to clean up when you got back." Troy was angry now, if he weren't so tired he probably would merely be slightly annoyed.

"You're kidding me right? Most of this mess is yours and Trav's and somehow I am always the one cleaning it up."

"Well, the difference is you care if it's a little dirty-"

"A _little_?" Troy glances around at the array of pizza boxes, Gatorade bottles, dirty dishes, dirty clothes, clean clothes, half-eaten food, and God knows what else.

"Hey man, like I said…I don't really care that much. And besides it's your girl that's coming over." Troy groaned at this because he realized laying there arguing wasn't going to help the mess to be cleaned up. He pulled out his cellphone to check the time: 11am, Gabi would be getting out of her last class at 1:20 which meant she would be here 2:30 at the earliest, if, like he suspected, she already had a bag packed. Drawing off the anticipation he felt at holding Gabriella in his arms he found the motivation to get to work. He sighed and reluctantly started to pick up the nearest trash shoving it into a trash bag.

* * *

Gabriella knocked on the door, she was a little late because she hadn't been able to reach Troy on her phone and she didn't want to show up if he was still in practice. She drove slower than normal (which was the actual speed limit admittedly) and had arrived around 3pm. She heard an "It's open!" sounding like Luke, from inside. She opened the door slowly and peered in, she spotted Travis and Luke sitting on the couch playing a video game. She was used to this: Travis and Luke getting into heated NCAA virtual basketball games. She wondered if Troy was even here since he didn't answer his phone. She walked up behind the couch, her bag slung on her shoulder.

"Hey guys."

"Hey." They respond in unison, barely paying attention to her. She half rolled her eyes but smiled and adjusted the bag on her shoulder. She cleared her throat, "Well…uh…Is he here?"

"Ooooooooo!" Luke reacted to a slam dunk, "In your face McLean!" He turned around slightly and smiled at Gabriella, "Nice to see ya Gab…he's in his room."

"Good to see you to Luke…thanks!" she gave him a smile and turned left to walk down the long hallway which lead to the bedrooms. She frowned slightly as she thought about why Troy hadn't answered her calls, to be honest she had been somewhat worried and here he had been in his room the whole time. She was going to give him a small piece of her mind she thought as she reached the last door at the end of the hall. She opened the door expecting to see Troy listening to music or on the computer but instead she saw her adorable boyfriend passed out on his bed clad only in gym shorts: a nod to how hot it was. Gabriella smiled at his position: he was on his stomach, one leg and arm straddling a pillow and hanging off the edge of the bed as a fan blew his bangs away from his forehead. She couldn't be mad at _this_ boy so she softly dropped her bag on the ground and walked over to where he slept. She bent over and kissed his forehead and then his lips, they were so soft. He stirred then, smiling in his sleep. Gabi chuckled softly before kissing his lips again, this time as she pulled away he had a delayed response: puckering his lips, searching for the lips no longer there to kiss. She laughed as his lips turned into a frown.

"Troy?" She spoke softly. He grunted in response, she tried again in a sing-song voice, louder, "Trooooy." This time he just moaned, but clearly more awake. "Troy Bolton wake up and greet me properly, I didn't drive all this way to watch you sleep." She stood up fully and placed her hands on her hips, waiting for a response. Troy took in a deep breath and on the exhale his eyes slowly opened and Gabriella could finally see his piercing blue eyes as he gazed up at her.

"You awake now?"

"MmmHmm" He responded shaking his head and then closed his eyes again.

"Right." She sighed. "Well…I guess I'll just have to go home then…" She said with a smile, teasing him. She started to back away from the edge of the bed but Troy's arm quickly reached out to grab her around her waist pulling her towards him causing her to fall onto the bed seated, she laughed, "Troy!" Troy used his left arm to remove the pillow he had been sleeping with and chucked it across the room while using his right to restrain his girlfriend. Gabriella tried, in vain, to get back up though she did it just so he would hold her tighter, "Let me goooo!"

"Nope," was the response and he now used his right arm to swing her legs from hanging off the bed to laying down beside his. She giggled as he swung his right leg over her hip and held her to his chest with his strong arms. He kissed her neck and she squirmed because it tickled a little. Then he stopped kissing her and just laid there, she couldn't see him.

"Troy?"

His response was merely a closed-mouth moan, "Hmmmm"

"Are you seriously just going to go back to sleep?"

"No…I'm not JUST going back to sleep…I'm going back to sleep much happier because my amazing sexy girlfriend is now here to cuddle with."

"Oh….hmmm..really? Because that pillow looked like a great cuddle buddy…"

Troy chuckled, "Nothing compared to the real thing…"

"Uh huh…I bet… judging from your oh so enthusiastic greeting…" She rolled her eyes.

"Hm," was the just as un-climatic response from him. Except so suddenly that she didn't have time to react, he had shifted his weight, letting his right leg slide from overtop her hip to the side of it so that now he was straddling her. Just as quickly he bent down and caught her lips in a passionate kiss breathing in through his nose as he did. He captured her hands in his, interlacing their friends together as he placed them on either side of her head. She sighed as she kissed him back, she had really missed him. His tongue darted out, licking the line between her bottom and top lip, asking for entry which she willingly granted. His tongue invaded her mouth, massaging hers causing her to moan. Her moan elicited a response from him to dig deeper, with penetrating strokes as he released his hold on her hands to grasp her hair and cradle her face. He finally, to her extreme dismay, released her lips from his which left them both breathing heavily and he softly kissed her lips once. Twice. Three more times before smiling down at her. Her eyes connected with his stunning blue ones as he flicked his head to get his hair out of his face. She didn't want him to stop, she had been so lonely since the last time they were together, she could feel her insides turning with anticipation.

"Better?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"You said I didn't" he kissed her forehead, "give you" he kissed her left cheek, "an enthusiastic enough" he kissed her right cheek, "greeting" he kissed her nose. She giggled before responding,

"Yes…much better." She pulled his face down to him to give him a kiss on the lips.

"I'm glad." He stared down at his girl taking in all her beauty, "Sorry I fell asleep…I missed you so much Gabs."

She smiled and bit her lip, knowing his reaction before she answered, "Hm…wish I could say the same."

The look on his face was priceless, his mouth opened in shock as his eyes widened but then a devilish smile came to his face, "Take it back Montez…" She giggled in response and before she could think of a clever retort he started to tickle her. She moved to bring her arms up to try and stop him but he restrained both of them in one of his and clamped his legs down on either side of her hips to keep her from moving too much: she was caught. Troy smiled as he watched her thrash around from his attack at her abdomen.

"Troy!...Troy!...Please!...OH!...PLEA-!...No,no,no!Stoooop!..." Gabriella managed to blurt out as she was mercilessly tickled. In her worming and squiggling she had somehow scooted up. Now Troy kneeled above her, straddling her legs, rather than sitting on her hips, loosening his hold on her unintentionally.

"I told you to take it back!" Troy giggled and tickled a tad harder which triggered an involuntary jerk of her right leg. Troy stopped immediately, releasing his hold on her, Gabriella opened her eyes to see Troy's face scrunched up and eyes closed; he was holding his breath. Concern came over her,

"Troy?...Troy what's-" She realized what she had done when he rolled off her and groaned going into the fetal position and holding his groin. "Oh Troy…oh babe I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I just—you were—awww, are you okay?" She whined.

Troy, eyes still closed, started to breathe evenly in and out, taking deep breaths as he did. "Yeah, it's okay…my fault…just gimme a minute." He said through a clenched jaw.

Gabriella frowned, upset with herself for hurting him, even if she didn't do it on purpose she still didn't like seeing him in pain. Not sure what to do she settled for rubbing his back with her hand, "I'm _really_-" she started but he cut her off,

"Gabriella, it's fine…it was an accident." Feeling better he opened his eyes and took one last breath before letting it out quickly. He stretched out beside her, wincing a bit, and propped himself up on his elbow, smiling up at her. She wondered if he knew how much her heart melted every time he smiled like that at her, "Feelin' better?...If it helps I really _really_ missed you!" She bit her lip. He chuckled and reached up with his finger to dislodge her lip from her teeth.

"I'm glad to hear that, but don't look so upset sweetheart…I'm fine. Promise." He smiled at her again. "That was a heck of a way to greet your boyfriend though!"

She hit his shoulder, "Oh you!"

He laughed as he spoke, "Hey! Don't you think you've done enough damage young lady!" She knew he was teasing her so she struck back,

"Men are such babies!"

Troy's eyes widened at the retort, "Oh really?" She nodded in response. "At least I'm not scared to death of spiders," he said shrugging.

She gasped, "I am NOT _scared_ of spiders….I just…don't particularly like them is all."

He nodded, pursing his lips as he considered this. He reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear before answering, "Well, that's good because me and the guys have seen A LOT of spiders around here lately…we thought about telling the building manager but-" Gabriella gasped, cutting him off.

"What?" She said quickly glancing around, checking for spiders, "How come you didn't tell-" She stopped because Troy was laughing. He thought he was so funny tricking her like that. She smacked his arm again, which only made him laugh harder much to her displeasure. She scoffed and then pouted, feigning being upset which she knew would bring him back down to earth from his laughing high.

Troy slowly stopped laughing as he took in his girlfriend's adorable face, "Awww…come oooon…it was just a joooke…" He reached over then and pulled her over to him. She continued to pout and he took his index finger and coaxed her chin up before kissing the frown on her lips away. She smiled a small smile as he pulled away.

"Now that's what I like to see" He winked at her and then leaned in again to kiss her more fully this time. He couldn't help it, she was too irresistible and it had been 4 days since he last saw her and even longer since they had proper time together. She had spent much of last weekend holed up in his room studying for an exam and much as he wanted to spend time with her both in his bed and out of it he had to respect her schooling before his own…needs…first. He didn't even want to think about the stretched of time they would spend apart once the semester started.

He deepened the kiss, taking his hand which had been by her face and dropped it to her shoulder running it down the bare skin of her arm. She was wearing a low cut tank top and when he glanced down he had a clear view of her red laced bra which held her supple breasts up. He groaned as his fingers made their way to her elbow and then to her side, meeting bare skin due to her top riding up a tad at the bottom exposing part of her midriff. She sighed as he drew light patterns on her skin and then grabbed his face with her hand, pulling him closer to her.

He took that as an invitation and rolled her onto her back, adjusting himself so he hovered above her. He broke their kiss only to replant his lips on her neck. He suckled and kissed around until finding her sensitive spot, making her moan softly. Her legs opened up to him as he settled between them. His hand played with them hem of her tank, slowly lifting it up before delving his hand completely under it to attend to the breasts that had been taunting him before. At the same time he reconnected their lips, and she moaned into his mouth. He massaged and stroked her cloth covered breast with his large hand. His tongue fought his way into her mouth as hers tried to keep it out, he smiled and chuckled slightly at her little game. Determined to win he deliberately moved the fabric of her bra away so he could rub a hardened nipple with his thumb. She moaned deeply, distracting her long enough for his tongue to gain entrance and penetrate deeply into her mouth: Victory.

Her hands caressed the hardened panes of his abdomen. Her fingers gently ran up and down his torso, sending spikes through his system. He shivered slightly as they then made their way to his waistband. She teased him, tracing the line of skin where the elastic clung to his hips, before circling them both around to the skin just below his belly button. The tips of her fingers lightly picked at the elastic barrier. He groaned, feeling his already aroused member harden further in anticipation.

"Gabriella…" He sighed. She dared his control further by ever so slowly sliding her thumbs fully into both his shorts and boxer waistbands. Tugging slightly at them, they slid ever so slightly down as her thumbs caressed the sensitive skin there causing him to break their kiss with a hiss. He looked her in the eyes as she bit her bottom lip before he lowered his head to kiss her abdomen. He pulled the waist of her shorts down slightly to blow air along the line the barrier he tested and as he did he felt her muscles jump. He smiled as he trailed kisses up to her belly button which he delved his tongue into before continuing upward. When he reached the bottom of her tank which hovered just below her breasts he used his hand to pull it up further, exposing her bra covered breasts. Her back arched up as he placed a kiss right between her mounds and as he licked the inside swell of her right breast he began to pull off her tank completely. Her arms lifted above her head as the top came off and Troy threw it to the floor. He then planted kisses all over her chest and stomach. She tasted SO good, too good for him to not remove the last barrier between him and her naked flesh. He slid his arm around her back, lifting her slightly as he attacked her lips with his. Finding her bra clasp he fumbled with it before it finally came undone. He sighed in relief as he laid her back down and grasped the article of clothing, sliding the bands off her arms and discarding it. He groaned at the sight of her, immediately kissing around her bare breast before taking her hard nipple in his mouth. She gasped and moaned as he sucked and licked,

"Oh…Troy…" Her words lit a fire in him as his hands trailed to her shorts, unbuttoning them. Her head flew back and arched into his touch as he slowly unzipped her zipper. His fingers trailed her exposed panty line as she bucked her hips off the bed, too impatient for his teasing. His mouth left her nipple only to trail down to her navel as his hands tugged her shorts free of her hips, sliding them down her legs and off. He ran his fingers back up the smooth skin of her legs, rubbing them before letting his thumbs slide inward to stroke the insides of her thighs. She groaned impatiently as he slowly let one of them trace the line of her panties covering her very wet center. He watched her face as she bit her lip, anticipating his next move.


	2. Chapter 2

Two loud knocks came from the door. Troy, panicking, pulled Gabriella to his chest, covering her but she gasped as his length slid over her center. He too shuddered and bit back a groan. Thankfully though the intruder didn't come in.

"Hey Troy, you sure you don't want to come tonight? I'm sure Gab wouldn't mind." Troy reached over and fumbled around on the floor before finding what a sought: his sheet. He grabbed it and gave it to Gabriella. He rolled off her, sitting beside her, breathing hard. Another knock. Troy looked over at a shocked Gabriella, sighed and fell back onto the bed with a groan: foiled. Another knock, harder this time. Seriously? TAKE THE HINT TRAVIS! Troy wanted to scream.

"Troy? Bro…are you guys doin' it or somethin'?" Travis' chuckled and his words had Troy getting up out of bed in a rush.

"Go Away!" He shouted at the door. He ran his hands through his hair and tried to right himself as much as he could, though the intrusion mostly killed his arousal already. He glanced back at a horrified Gabriella who was trying to locate her clothes. He lowered his voice so only she could hear, "Babe I'm so sorry…I'll be right back though…" He picked up her clothes for her, handing them to her before he strode over to the door, opened it a crack shielding Travis from seeing into the room before slipping out.

"Sorry to-"

Troy interrupted him, shoving him lightly down the hallway away from his room to give Gabriella privacy and so their conversation wouldn't be heard. He was annoyed, "NO…GO."

Once they reached the living room Luke looked up and took in Troy's messed up hair and disapproving face, "Told ya man…"

"Shut it Jam-"

Troy cut him off again, "_What_ the hell man?"

"Sorry…?"

Troy rolled his eyes, "Yeah…I bet."

"Well how was I sup-"

"You're joking right?" Troy wasn't about to discuss his sex life with Gabriella to his teammates. Their intimate relationship was very new to them and even so Troy liked to maintain as much privacy about their relationship as he could, but Travis knew very well what he was doing. "My _girlfriend.._ _just_ got here, after I haven't seen her for _4 days."_ He closed his eyes and pursed his lips then sighed. "Look…man, we _aren't_ going to that party. But you go ahead and have fun, and next time you feel the need to come talk to me when I am in my room alone with Gabriella…_don't_. Ya Got me?" Troy glared at Travis.

Luke sniggered at the reprimand Troy had given Travis. Troy would have added a warning to Luke too, but he knew Luke already knew better: they got along really well and he respected his relationship with Gabriella whereas Travis thought of it as "fuck buddies." Troy inwardly cringed at this term as he thought it. The first time Travis had implied it Troy's protectiveness over Gabriella had almost caused him to punch Travis. But he had merely stomached the insult and told Travis sharply to never refer to his relationship with Gabriella as anything like that ever again.

"Yeah, fine, whatever bro. Sorry."

"I'm serious man." And with that Troy turned around and paced back down the hall towards his bedroom.

* * *

"Trooooy. Stoooop." Gabriella moaned as Troy expressed for what seemed like the 100th time his disapproval of what his teammate had done. They walked hand in hand around campus having left the confines of Troy's room after the mood had been ruined.

"I'm just sayin'…what if he had actually walked in?"

Gabriella sighed, "Yes, but he didn't. You're making this into too big of a deal, honestly Troy. Just let it go, let's talk about something else." She glanced over at him and she could tell he wanted to continue on with his complaining so she stopped walking. Troy kept walking for a step before stopping,

"Babe what are you…?" Gabriella reached up on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek, silencing him. "Stop bein' so grumpy!" she smiled at him, "Tell me…how was practice this morning?"

Troy groaned as they resumed walking, "Don't ask." He chuckled before continuing, "I don't want to talk about practice. How was your drive…sorry again for falling asleep and not answering my phone…I was just so tired, it's been a long week and then I had to clean-"

"You cleaned?"

Troy glanced at her and half-chuckled, "Don't look so shocked! I happen to be very neat!" Gabriella raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay fine…neat-ER that your average guy…does that work for you?"

Gabriella considered this: it was true that in general Troy kept a tidy place, not CLEAN…but at least mostly picked up. But she knew for certain he was much cleaner than his roommates. "Yeah…I guess." She smiled at him and he nudged into her side as they continued to walk. "So what's got you so tired Wildcat?"

Troy took a deep breath, "Well…Coach Masters has been ridin' me and-"

"Masters? I thought your coach was Cleaves…"

Troy chuckled softly and placed a kiss to her temple, "Michael Cleaves is the head coach but we have a lot of assistants…I know I mentioned them before…" Gabriella blushed, had he? She seemed to remember mention of other names besides Cleaves but she guessed that they were teammates. She was embarrassed.

"Maybe…?

He smiled at her, "Okay so there's 3 main assistants: Justin Howenstine is the bigs coach—he works with the post players, Nathan Coppinger is..well he does everything but he specializes in defense, and then Nick Masters is the guard coach—I work with him a lot and he just nags me. I mean, being a coaches son I am more than used to it, but it doesn't mean it doesn't wear on me after a while especially with getting up for 5am practices, then the extra conditioning in the evenings-"

"Oh! Don't you have conditioning tonight?"

"Oh, no…coach gave us the night off…thank goodness…"

"Yeah…you look like you need it."

He smiled at her, "Gee Thanks."

"I didn't me-"

He leaned in and kissed her lips quickly, silencing her. "I know, I was teasing….So how was the drive? You never answered my question…how's school?"

She gave him a coy look before answering, "Drive was fine except I was _worried why my boyfriend wasn't answering his phone!"_

Troy smiled guiltily, "Geez…what an inconsiderate boyfriend you have miss. I hope he makes it up to you…"

"Yeah he better…" She chuckled. He smiled back at her. "Anyway…School is going good. Like I told you I did good on that exam-"

"Do you have much to do this weekend?"

"Ummm..not really no."

"Good. I've missed you."

Gabriella smiled a sad smile, "Yeah…me too. But you could come visit me too you know…"

"Yeah…believe me I would love that…but with practices…I think we have a couple weeks off before semester starts though."

"Troy…semester starts in like…3 weeks."

His eyes widened in surprised as he looked down at her, "Really? Wow…I didn't realize…I'll ask Scott about our break…"

"Speaking of the semester…."

Troy groaned, he knew the interrogation was coming.

"What are you signed up for Mr. Bolton?"

He sighed, his eyes rolling up as if he was searching in his head for the answers as he thought, "Ummm…Acting I…"

"Yeah…and?"

"And…some general ed courses…"

"Like…?"

"Um…I can't remember."

Gabriella sighed, "Troooy." He never really took his education seriously and to someone who took hers very seriously this concerned Gabriella. "How can you not know? What about books and all that?"

Troy shrugged, "Haven't really thought about it since I signed up for 'em…athletes get their books bought for them, so I don't have to worry about that. Don't worry I'll figure it out before semester."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Troy 2 minutes ago you didn't even know that semester started in 3 weeks."

"So?"

"So."

"So what's your point?"

"My point is Troy you can't expect to just sail through your classes…this is college."

Now Troy rolled his eyes, "Yes, thanks Gabriella for enlightening me of that fact: this is college."

"I'm just trying-"

Troy stopped them in their tracks, "Can we not do this now?"

"What?"

"Argue."

"We aren't arguing…we're…discussing your education."

"Well then can we not 'discuss my education'? It's been rough month with practice and all that and I just haven't had time to look into school, but I will when we get our break….promise." He paused, gauging her reaction through her eyes. "Okay?"

She sighed. He was right, they shouldn't spend their time stressing over this right now, it could wait. "Okay."

Troy smiled and kissed her hair, "Alright. Now…where do you want to eat dinner? My treat."


	3. Practice and Beach Time

**A/N: Hey everyone!**

**It seems there is at least a few readers so I decided to update. Sorry it took a little bit of time, it has been crazy: a few job interviews, work, and then my car window was smashed when someone broke in and stole a bunch of stuff! Ugh! So I have been dealing with that the last few days. But I hoped to make up for it by making this a longer chapter! Hopefully you like it...Troy and Gabriella are apart for most of it, sorry. **

**Thanks for reading and and thought or suggestions are welcome/helpful! **

**Caio,  
Kenz**

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The buzzing from under his pillow pulled Troy from his sleep. With his right arm, the arm not around the waist of Gabriella, he reached for his phone. He titled his head up so his sleepy eyes could find the time: 5:00 am. Troy groaned to himself as he carefully rolled away from the beautiful sleeping girl lying next to him. Lying on his back he stared up at the ceiling, trying to muster up the motivation to get up. Practice wasn't until 9am today, but Troy knew he needed to spend more time in the gym to work on his individual game. He opted to go in early so he wouldn't feel the need to stay after practice and take away time he had with Gabriella. Troy sighed and eased his way out of the bed so as not to disturb his girlfriend. He stumbled around in the dark for a moment before finding some shorts and a t-shirt. Slipping on his shirt he looked back at his bed to find Gabriella curled up in a ball, now without her own personal heater. The room had cooled down immensely over the night and the fan was still going. Troy pursed his lips, fighting the urge to join her and keep her warm but the second alarm on his phone reminded him of his responsibilities. Sighing Troy went to his closet and using the light from his phone located a blanket on the top shelf. He spread it over Gabriella before leaning down to kiss her forehead gently.

"I love you." He whispered. Gabriella smiled in her sleep and snuggled underneath the blanket, this action caused Troy to smile: she was so adorable.

Now in the kitchen Troy located a bagel and an apple in the fridge before sitting down on the couch. He propped his legs up on the coffee table and took a bite into his apple thinking what drills he was going to put himself through once he got to the gym. Coach Masters was always on him about keeping the tempo up, that he took too long after a missed basket to get the outlet and push it up the floor. College ball was a much faster game than Troy was used to. Troy sighed as he took another large bite of the apple. Maybe he could get some of the basketball managers to help him out with pushing the ball…they always got to practice early to set things up. Troy sighed and stood up before he could fall asleep on the couch. Finishing off his apple he threw it in the trash and grabbed the pad of note paper from the counter and wrote a note to Lucas and Travis to tell them he left early for practice and to be quiet so they didn't wake Gabriella.

Troy walked down the dark, deserted sidewalk of campus towards the basketball arena chewing on his bagel. He silently cursed himself for not bringing a jacket as it was actually quite cool outside. Breaking into a slight jog Troy neared the tunnel that lead down onto the floor level of the arena and where the locker rooms are housed. Now going down the long sloping cement of the ramp Troy slowed to a walk and reached the door leading into the arena.

As he walked into the posh locker room he stopped by the kitchenette to grab a Gatorade from the always fully stocked cooler and then headed past the lounge area ,which was equipped with several easy boy chairs and 9 flat screen TVs, into the circular locker area. Sitting on the stool in front of his locker he reached for his practice jersey and shoes. Changing he glanced at the pictures he had posted up: one of him and Gabriella at Junior Prom, one from graduation, another which he had taken of the two of them when they had picnicked on the lawn of the Lava Springs golf course: he was kissing her cheek and she had been about to laugh when he took the picture, he smiled at the memory. The last photo was one just of her in an aqua blue top, his favorite color on her-it really highlighted the bronze color of her skin and contrasted well with her dark locks. She had been playing with a puppy when he called her name and she looked over at him with the most adorable smile on her face, and he took the picture. Troy smiled and then sighed looking at his cell phone to see it was already 6am. He stood up and headed to the gym floor.

It was almost 9am now and several other players had showed up including the captain Scott Saracen who was also the team's best shooting guard and the guy to whom Troy was responsible for getting the ball to on fast breaks.

"You really just have to not think so much Troy…you're slow because you are thinking through everything before you do it."

"I don't want to turn it over."

"The plays are set up already to limit that chance, you just have to make a quick look to see that the coast is clear and send it up court…don't dribble so much. Your job is to catch me on the wing for a quick chance at a 3 while the other team is running down to set-up their defense…and if you start dribbling you give them the chance to get to me before you can deliver the ball. Got it?"

Troy listened to Scott as he explained, and realized he was right. Scott was a good guy and had in a way took Troy under his wing. The 6'3'' captain was the fan favorite with his superstar status and good looks. Troy's blue eyes met with Scott's green ones and Troy sighed, "Yeah…you're right. I'll really work on it Scott."

"You better kid!" Scott chuckled, shoving Troy playfully, "I need to get my points this season!"

Right then Coach Cleaves walked in trailed by his assistants and explained the plan for the day's practice. Troy had already been working for 2 hours so he was a little tired, and Coach Masters decided to ream him for it: telling Troy he was lazy, sluggish, and always "10 steps behind." Troy knew he was maybe a little fatigued, but lazy? He was working his butt off! He tried to remind himself that Coach was only trying to make him a better player and so pushed himself even harder.

"Hey…you're _really_ not as bad as he is telling you you are…just keep workin." It was a water break and Scott had come over to Troy who had taken a quick drink and made his way back onto the court to practice free throws. Spencer, a team manager, was re-bounding the ball and tossing it back to Troy who bent his knees and shot again, swishing it.

"Right." Troy responded. Then a group of college aged kids walked into the arena lugging camera equipment. There were several guys and only one girl. They caught Troy's attention as the group quietly discussed something and headed up the bleachers. "Who are they?"

Scott looked over to the group, "Oh…those are the in house video kids I think…I don't really know any of them but since they are carrying equipment and headed to the camera platform I assume they are."

"In house video kids?"

"Yeah…you know…the big screen in the arena that gives the nose bleed seats a better view of the game and it shows replays and stuff." He pointed to the cube shaped score board which hung over center court and had 4 video screens on it.

"Oh…nice." Troy said looking up.

"Yeah, they also do sweet highlight videos and starting line up intros. They will probably call us in to do those once school starts." Troy watched as the group disappeared into the concourse and then shot another free throw, making it.

"Your girl up again this weekend?"

Troy smiled and sunk another free throw, "Yeah."

* * *

Gabriella slowly opened her eyes as she woke up and rolled over from her side onto her back. She frowned to herself when she saw Troy's half of the bed empty sans a piece of note paper. She reached over to grab it and saw that it had "To My Love" written on the outside in what she recognized as Troy's handwriting. She unfolded it,

_"Good Morning Beautiful! I hope you slept well even after I left. Practice is from 9 until 1pm. As always help yourself to anything and text me if you want me to pick you anything up after practice. I'll be back as soon as I can, I love you baby._

_ XOXO Love, Troy."_

Gabriella smiled as she kissed the note and grabbed Troy's pillow breathing in his scent. She sighed and glanced at Troy's alarm clock on the bed side table, it was 11am. She didn't remember hearing the alarm or feeling Troy get out of bed, how could that be? Stretching Gabriella sat up and swung her legs off the edge of the bed then stood up and crossed the room to where her bag was. As much as she wanted to stay in Troy's old red Wildcat t-shirt she had to shower. She retrieved her shower supplies and made her way into the hallway to the linen closet to grab a towel.

After her shower Gabriella wrapped the towel around her chest and went back to Troy's room where she decided to wear a white sun skirt, a purple top with a deep v neck line, and of course the T necklace Troy had given her. Throwing her hair up in a messy bun Gabriella made her way to the living room, her freshmen law policy book in hand. She decided that in an hour she would make lunch for the guys to eat when they got home from practice, undoubtedly starving. Before sitting down with her book she went to the kitchen to see what they had for her to make. She saw the note Troy had written to the guys and smiled to herself, her man was so thoughtful. She found what she would need to make tuna macaroni salad and hamburgers, satisfied she picked up her book and nestled herself onto the couch to get some reading done.

She didn't hear him when he came in because she was humming "You Are the Music in Me" to herself while cooking over the stove. Her back was to him so he was able to take in her form: his eyes scanned from the back of her head and trailed all the way down her smooth legs to her bare feet which moved absent mindedly to dance steps. Troy smiled at the sight and took in a deep breath through his nose taking in the scent of burgers, his mouth began to water.

"Mmmmmm…Smells good in here!"

Gabriella jumped at the sound of his voice and turned around to see him standing in the doorway, still sweaty from practice. She flipped the burger and then ran over to hug, or rather jump on, him.

"You're home!" She said with a smile as she neared him, but he put his palms out towards her.

"Hold on, hold on…I'm all gross still. I didn't shower in the locker room so I could get here faster."

"I don't care Troy…I want my hug and kiss!" She advanced to him again and he put his hands on her shoulders to stop her.

"And you will…as soon as I shower…" He smiled and bent down to kiss her cheek as he edged past her. He sniffed again, "Burgers huh? Yum, you spoil me."

"You mean spoil you GUYS…I made it for all of us! There's tuna noodle salad too."

"Babe you didn't have to do that…." He said glancing back at the door where his roommates would come in in a short time. She used her finger to pull his face back to hers.

"I know…I wanted to."

He smiled down at her and leaned in and scrunched his face as he rubbed noses with her, "Well thank you."

She giggled, "No problem…now go shower before I lose my patience."

He made a fake shocked face and ran down the hall to the bathroom, dodging her shoving, but before he went through the door he looked back and smiled, "I'll be fast, promise." He winked at her and then disappeared through the door and just as quickly she heard the shower turn on. She went back to attend to the last burger she was cooking and continued to hum her and Troy's song. She smiled when she heard Troy's voice carry to her singing the same song she hummed, "Oh you are the music in me. Yeah it's living in all of us….because you are the music in me." As she listened she wondered to herself if he could hear her humming, but then decided that would be impossible with the shower water running and smiled when she realized this would mean it was a coincidence. She giggled and as she made a plate for herself, only taking one burger and leaving the other 6 for Troy, Travis and Lucas. She put hers on the counter/bar and then headed back to the couch, waiting for Troy to begin eating.

She was reading her book and hadn't heard the shower shut off, so it came as a huge surprise when all of a sudden two bare arms encircled her upper body and a warm head came to settle next to hers on her shoulder.

"Hey there beautiful," Troy turned his head so he could kiss her cheek, "miss me?"

Gabriella giggled, "Of course." She turned in his arms so she was kneeling on the couch facing backwards and saw that he was in a towel. Her eyebrows raised and eyed his muscle clad torso. She bit her lip and he laughed at her reaction,

"I guess that would be a yes?"

She nodded.

He chuckled, "Okay I'm going to go put some clothes on. Be right back." He winked at her. She didn't have to wait long, it seemed like in no time at all Troy emerged from the hallway dressed in plaid shorts and a blue polo shirt. He ran a hand through his nearly dry hair as he approached his girlfriend. He wrapped his arms around her lower back and picked her fully off the ground as he hugged her. She giggled,

"Troy!... Hey aren't you hungry? It'll get cold!"

He put her down and raised an eyebrow at her, "That question my dear has a double meaning…care to clarify?" He slowly lowered his face to hers, his lips inching closer and closer to hers as she tried to formulate a response, or _any_ thought really.

"Umm…" But before she could answer he connected their lips for the first time that day. Her hands went up his chest and around to the back of his neck then she threaded her fingers in his hair. The kiss was short for her taste, but incredibly sweet and loving. He held her tight against his hips as he pecked her lips quickly three more times, smiling. He pulled away slightly, leaning his torso back causing his hips to shove further into hers so that he could connect their foreheads. Troy looked down at her as he swayed their hips left and right,

"Did you sleep well? I didn't wake you did I?...When I left?" He said sweetly.

"No you didn't wake me…but I sleep MUCH better in your arms…"

He smiled, "The guys didn't wake you either did they?"

She shook her head, "Nope."

"Good."

"Thanks for the note handsome." She said kissing his lips once.

He frowned slightly. "I felt bad making you wake up alone." He said running his hands up and down her back.

"I guessed as much." She giggled and ran her fingers through his hair. "How was practice?"

Troy sighed.

"That bad?"

"Nah…it was okay I guess."

"You look tired." She noted the bags under his eyes.

Troy shrugged and lifted his head so their foreheads no longer touched and then brought his hands from her lower back up to cradle her face, "Don't worry about it."

"Troy-" He interrupted her with a kiss. Just then Travis and Lucas walked in.

"I told you man, it's on the third Saturday of September." Lucas told Travis and then saw the couple embraced before them, "Oh hey guys we just—is that hamburgers I smell?"

Troy released his hold on Gabriella only to pull her close to his side, his arm wrapped around her waist, "And tuna noodle salad. Gabriella made lunch for us." He kissed the top of her head.

"Oh SWEET! Score! Thanks a lot Gabs." Lucas said as he walked into the kitchen following an eager Travis. He hit Travis on the back of the head, Troy laughed.

"Ow! Geez…" Travis turned on Lucas and then quickly caught on, "Oh yeah, thanks a lot Gabriella."

"No problem guys, there's two burgers for each of you…"

"Niiiiice." Travis replied, digging in.

Gabriella turned her face up to look at Troy, had he gotten taller? She knew it was possible for guys to grow into their college years. She made a mental note to ask him later.

"You better get in there Wildcat before they eat it all up."

Troy looked from her over to the boys in the kitchen, "Nah…" and then his brow furrowed, "Okay…maybe you're right." He gave her a quick kiss and then headed into the kitchen to fend for his fair share, he was starving.

* * *

"So what is the third Saturday of September?" Gabriella asked as Troy helped her out of his truck now parked at the beach.

"Huh?" Troy asked confused as he claimed her hand walking towards the sand.

"Lucas said something about the third Sat-"

"Oh right. Ummm…it's some thing with the team and fans."

"Oh cool. What kind of thing?" She asked looking up at him as he swung their hands between them.

"Not too sure…I think it's like a camp-out on campus with the student cheering section. The players introduce themselves, the fans ask questions, and then we all just mingle and hang out for the rest of the night. Sounds pretty cool."

"Yeah, really cool! Great way for you guys to connect with you fans!"

"Yeah, it's going to be weird though."

"How do you mean?" She asked as they reached the tide line and he directed her to walk left so that he would be closer to the water when the wave crashed in.

"Oh you know…" the tide came in and Troy leaped out of the way so his slip on shoes wouldn't get soaked. Gabriella giggled, "Why did you walk so close?"

He smiled back as he slipped his shoes off and held them in his right hand and reclaimed hers with his left, resuming their walk on the wet sand.

"Anyway…as I was saying: From what I hear it's craziness. So many fans and people you have never met wanting your autograph, and pictures, asking crazy questions…"

"They just want to get to know the guys who will be winning the games this year!"

"Yeah I know…it's just…they don't even know me, but they already expect so much from me as a player and person…it's a lot of pressure."

"And when have you ever been shy of pressure playmaker dude?" She said teasing him and then bumping her hip into his. He bumped hers back.

"I'm not shy of the pressure…I just don't want to let anyone down."

Gabriella stopped them and used her hand to turn his face down and towards hers so she could look into his bright blue eyes, "Troy…just be you. Do that…and people will have no choice but to love you." She leaned in and kissed him tenderly. For as confident as Troy seemed to other people she knew that he worried a lot about not being enough, a stress that came with being raised a coach's son with all the weight on his shoulders. He sighed, "Yeah, you're right."

"Of course I am…I always am, and I know you better than you know yourself so I know that you are worrying for nothing." She smiled teasingly.

He cocked an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

She nodded, her eyes glowing. He looked into her eyes, searching, for what? She didn't know.

"Hmm…What am I thinking about doing right now then?" He challenged, his eyes locking in on hers.

She bit her lip, "You're thinking about how much you want to swim in the ocean and how much you want to drag me in there with you." She smiled so that the lip between her teeth came out slightly.

His eyes narrowed at her, "You don't play fair."

Her eyes widened, "What? How?"

"Because…you know how much I love the water so-"

"And trees" she added interrupting him.

"And trees." He agreed taking her other hand in his, lacing their fingers.

"But don't you think that that is my point?" She asked incredulously.

He took in a deep breath and answered in his exhale, "Maybe….but…"

"But what?"

"But maybe you shouldn't want to always be right!" He said as he bent over, discarded his shoes and wrapped his arms under her butt in order to lift her up over his shoulder.

She let out a scream, "Troy!"

He laughed as he adjusted her so that his left arm was on her lower legs, counter balancing her and his right hand was on her bum to keep her in place. He started towards the water.

"Troy Michael Bolton! Don't you DARE!" She was swatting his butt over and over.

"Oh but if I didn't you would be wrong…"

She gasped, "Troy…."

He laughed as he took a few steps into the warm ocean current so that it was up to his knees.

"Oh my God! Troy Bolton let me down right now or you are going to be in SO much trouble."

Troy laughed again as she hit his butt with every word she spoke. "Okay, okay!"

"You better not get me wet! I'm wearing a WHITE skirt Troy…" She reminded him. This little reminder made Troy groan a little inside at what it implied, but he flipped her so that he cradled her between in arms. He leaned in to kiss her.

"Now…would I get you wet against your wishes mah lady?"

She gave him the stink eye, "No…but only because it'd be the last thing you ever did."

He laughed, "Is that so?" He leaned in and rubbed her nose with his.

"Yes, now will you please get back on dry land before you drop me or something?"

"Gabriella…I'm not going to drop you…give me a little more credit than that."

"Troy…"

"Okay, okay. Your wish is my command." He walked out of the water and onto the dry sand and gently placed her on her feet. The sun was starting to set as she slipped her feet out of her sandals so the sand could run between her toes. She loved that feeling. She wrapped her arms around Troy's neck and went up on her tip-toes to kiss him. His hands splayed across the small of her back as he pulled her in closer to him and kissed her more fully. She groaned as he pulled away.

"Gabriella…I would NEVER drop you…"

"I know Wildcat." She smiled up at him as he leaned in to kiss her again.


	4. Unexpected

He pulled her even closer so that her back arched as she felt his tongue graze the small space between her lips. She eagerly opened her mouth to his as he teased her by only coming part way into her mouth. Goosebumps rose on her skin as his hand trailed from its place on her lower back across her bottom to her upper thigh where it latched on. She gasped as he lifted her with ease so that both her legs wrapped around his hips, luckily her skirt was long enough that she wasn't exposed. He continued to kiss her: no longer teasing her he penetrated fully into her mouth with his tongue. She adjusted herself lower against his abdomen, but in her movement she made the contact between them such that he could easily feel the pulsing of her arousal just above his belt causing a groan to emanate from between his lips.

He stopped kissing her and eased her back onto her feet. Gabriella was confused as Troy stepped away from her.

"Troy?"

His face was apologetic, "Sorry…just-just a little bit too much for my control."

Gabriella smiled, knowing what he meant but then took a step towards him. "Well…who says that's a bad thing necessarily…" she responded seductively.

Troy took another few steps back from her, "Whoa whoa, h-hold on babe we're on a public beach…" Gabriella frowned and then sighed,

"Yeah…you're right."

"But…" Troy continued, "I think Luke and Trav are out for the night." Gabriella smiled and took his hand leading him to his truck.

"Whoa, in a hurry sweetheart?"

Gabriella's response was a quick kiss to Troy's cheek.

"Guess what?" He said squeezing her hand in his.

She glanced up at him, "What?"

Troy leaned down and nuzzled her neck before whispering in her ear, "I love you." Gabriella giggled as they reached his truck and he opened her door for her.

"I love you too." She went up on her tip toes to give him a kiss on the lips before climbing up into the truck.

* * *

The pair walked quickly down the hall towards Troy's apartment as Troy read a text from his phone,

"Yeah bro, me and Trav are at this sick party." The message also said that he and Gabriella should come, but he didn't vocalize that part of the message.

"How late do you think they will be out?" Gabriella asked.

"Late." Troy answered with a smile as they neared his door. Troy stopped before putting his key in the lock: he could see light coming from underneath the door. Then he remembered that his roommates regularly forget to turn off lights.

"Troy?" Gabriella questioned his hesitancy then a sound of rummaging came from inside the apartment. "I thought you said Tra-"

"Shhhh" Troy cautioned, "They are…" He whispered.

"Then who-?" She whispered back as Troy took her hand and led her quietly down the hall.

"Troy what are you doing?" She harshly whispered.

"I'm getting you out of here." He said quietly back as he continued to usher her down the hall. But she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Gabriella what are you doing?"

"Troy whoever is in there could be gone any minute, call the campus police."

Troy rolled his eyes, "The campus police take forever to respond…they won't be here for at least 30 minutes. So I am going to get you out of here and then come back to-"

"Troy! Y-!" Her voice was silence when Troy's hand came over her mouth.

"Shhhh Gabriella be quiet!" He yelled in a whisper before removing his hand.

"Troy you can't come back here by yourself and I am not going anywhere without you."

Troy sighed in frustration, "Gabriella I don't want you in danger, now come on will you please just trust me?" Gabriella stood her ground and looked up at her anxious boyfriend who kept glancing back down the hall.

"I'm not leaving this hallway without you Troy."

"Gabriella PLEASE don't do this."

"No Troy, you don't. What if something happens to you? Would you let me go into my dorm in this same situation?"

Troy straightened up with a look of both confusion and disgust on his face, "What? No, of course not." He paused for a moment before adding, "I would tell you to get out of there and call the campus police while I go in your room." Gabriella smacked his chest.

"Ugh!...Well, what about your neighbors? Can't they help?"

"No one is moved in yet besides us and the girls team on a different floor who I doubt are home. _Come on_ Gabriella we are wasting time." He glanced back down to his door again.

"Troy I am not letting you go in there alone!" She yelled quietly. Troy groaned and put his hands over his face before running them up and through his hair.

"Okay fine, but you stay behind me, and you are NOT coming in do you hear me? You are going to stay against the wall by the door and if you hear anything bad you run outside and call 911 you understand me?" He looked at her sternly, not willing to give in anymore than he already had.

She sighed and grabbed his hand, "Okay fine." She pulled out her cellphone and dialed 911 but didn't press send, "I am ready to call if anything happens."

"Promise me you'll do what I said."

"Okay…I promise." She started walking down the hall leading Troy, but Troy pulled her back, perhaps a little too roughly.

"Gabriella! What did I just say?" He looked at her, his eyes anxious and worried.

"Oh, Sorry."

He took a deep breath and let it out, "Stay behind me." He said pulling her closely behind him before walking down the hall. They reached the door and Troy put his hand out to grasp the handle.

"Wait!" Gabriella whispered grabbing his arm. Troy froze and without looking behind him answered,

"What?"

"Troy maybe you shouldn't do this. Let's just call the police…you could get hurt," she said in a worried tone.

Troy sighed lightly, "Okay…call them and I'll go in to make sure they stay here until the police come." He looked at her worried face and added, "Gabriella, just stay back like I told you." He turned back to give her a kiss on the forehead before reaching for the knob once more. Gabriella clutched his bicep, squeezing it in fear. Troy used his other hand to release her grip and patted her hand in comfort. He licked his lips and his breath quickened as he slowly turned the knob and opened the door. Noises could still be heard inside and Gabriella whined slightly as Troy went to go inside; he turned back and put his finger to his lips and then silently motioned for her to call.

Gabriella's heart was pounding so loud she was afraid everyone on campus could hear it as she watched Troy slip in the door. She strained her neck forward to try and see in, but Troy closed the door quietly behind him. She let out a frustrated sigh as she heard him switch the lock: geez, of course he would lock her out so she couldn't help! Troy knew her too well: that she would break her promise and rush in there if she heard him in trouble. So, in his effort to protect her he had locked her out. _Perfect, in his attempt to be a "man" he is going to get his stupid self hurt_ she thought. She had forgotten all about the ready dialed phone in her hand and tried to intently listen through the wall instead.

"What are you-"She heard Troy say before there was a loud short scream. Gabriella jumped back in shock and then began pounding on the door,

"Troy?" She heard laughing. The door opened revealing Troy with a grin on his face.

"False alarm." He said before taking in Gabriella's still scared face drained of color. He immediately brought her into his arms, "Oh babe, it's okay. It was just Schiff!" He rubbed her back in comfort.

"Schiff?" She said into his chest. He released her, put his arm around her waist and led her inside where she saw a girl dressed in athletic gear standing in the kitchen.

"Gabriella this is Courtney Schiffer…she plays on the girl's basketball team here. We gave her a key to our apartment in case the girls needed it, and we got a copy from them too…I forgot….sorry." He looked down at Gabriella who was still processing.

"Schiff this is my girlfriend Gabriella Montez." The girl came forward a couple steps and extended her hand to Gabriella who finally breathed a sigh of relief and shook it.

"Hey I'm Courtney! I heard a lot about you Gabriella from Troy. I'm sorry I scared you guys so much! Our oven is on the fritz so I came over to use the boys…I guess I should have called you or something…sorry again."

Troy laughed, "Nah it's okay...just scared the crap out of us, but I'm glad it was you and not someone robbin' the place. Besides, I think I got you back when you didn't hear me come in and then startled you when I spoke." Courtney laughed.

"…It's nice to meet you Courtney, I just wish it could have been a little less eventful!" Gabriella smiled. Troy's arm tightened around her. Courtney chuckled,

"Yeah…sorry again…but…um I'll get out of your guys' hair…" she said as she pulled little pizza things out of the oven and flicked it off.

"Nah it's okay Schiff you don't have to take those out early…just finish whatever you're doin'. No problem, really."

"Oh it's okay, they are pretty much done anyhow…"

"Oh…okay then."

"Yeah…Well…" She walked past them to the door with her pan as she spoke, "Sorry again…and thanks for the use of your oven Troy…" She looked at Gabriella at Troy's side, "Nice to meet you finally Gabriella."

"You too." Gabriella responded with a smile.

"Oh Troy, I'll call or text ya later sometime about running."

"Okay, sounds good. Catch ya later."

"See ya." Courtney disappeared behind the door and closed it. Troy breathed out a sigh of relief and chuckled.

"Well…that was fun."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Oh yes…loads." Troy laughed again squeezing her to his side and then kissed her hair.

"Sorry...I should have remembered."

Gabriella sighed a response, "It's fine Troy." She titled her head up and kissed the bottom of his jaw. "What did she say about running?"

"Oh, um, me and Schiff go running every once in a while. She was on the cross country and track team at her high school and no one on the girls team can keep up with her in long distance so I volunteered." He shrugged.

"Oh…I didn't know."

Troy shrugged again before letting her go, "Nothin' big really." He plopped down on the couch and reached his hand out to Gabriella who took it and sat down next to him then put her legs over one of his. Troy slipped off his shoes and then slid her sandals off her feet before putting his right arm around her shoulders and leaning his head back. Gabriella glanced over at him as he sighed and closed his eyes.

"Tired?"

Troy took in a deep breath and answered on his exhale, "Nah…just coming down."

Gabriella reached over and ran her hands through his hair, "I know what you mean…I was worried about you."

Troy let out one chuckle, "Heh."

"What?" Gabriella asked confused.

"Nothin'…just that you were worried about me, but _I_ was worried about my apartment, myself, and scared to death about YOUR safety; that's really what took the most out of me…I had a thousand scenarios in my head of what could happen to you and how I would prevent it from happening. That's why I locked the door of course…to keep _you_ from coming _in_…." He paused, letting her know he knew she would have broken her promise, "and from letting whoever it was have an easy way of running into you."

Gabriella smiled at her sometimes over-protective boyfriend and sighed happily. She leaned in and kissed his lips which had him opening his blue eyes to look at her as she pulled away.

"What was that for?"

"Because I have the best boyfriend in the world whom I love very much."

Troy smiled and pulled her head in as he leaned in to kiss her lips again, "Mmm…I'd do anything for my girl." He kissed her again as he pulled her onto him. She put her arms around his neck as she sat sideways on his lap and continued to kiss him. He pulled away then and kissed her shoulder then ran his left hand from her knee up under her skirt to her upper thigh. She acted quickly and turned so that she was straddling him and leaned down to attack his ready lips. Her hands threaded into his hair as she felt his cup her bottom and strain her closer to him. Then she felt herself heat up as his hands came around to rest on her bare knees before he slowly inched upwards under the hem of her skirt. She tore her mouth from his in a gasp when his thumbs came to her apex and brushed across her damp panties. He reattached his lips to her neck and worked his way down the deep V neck of her shirt before dipping his tongue into her cleavage making her sigh his name. He quickly withdrew his hands from under her skirt causing Gabriella to whine internally, but her disappointment was stifled when Troy's hands suddenly gripped the hem of her top and pulled it over her head. Now that he had better access he kissed around the mounds of her breasts and her head fell back at his touch. His hands rubbed the top and outsides of her thighs as he sucked on the sweet spot on her neck.

Gabriella removed her hands from his hair and brought them down over the front of his chest to the bottom of his shirt. He removed his hands from her thighs to assist her in taking his shirt off and briefly removed his lips from her as the shirt pulled over his head. Troy's hands returned to her thighs and gripped her tightly as he reclaimed her mouth with his own. She felt as his tongue came in contact with hers and she moaned into his mouth. Gabriella's hands moved of their own accord down Troy's bare chest to his belt which she undid before moving on to the button. She could feel his length straining against the fabric of his shorts, but before she could undo his zipper his mouth pulled away from hers.

"Wait, wait,wait…." Troy said quickly, breathing heavily.

"What's the matter?"

"Let's move to my room." He said as she felt his thumbs curve to the inside of her thighs and rub small circles there. She nodded and he stood up quickly somehow managing to get her cradled between his arms without any effort. He kissed her all over his face as he walked down the hall towards his bedroom. As he opened the door and paced over to his bed he used the hand supporting her back to unhitch her bra which she slid off her arms as he placed her gently on the bed. Gabriella opened her legs to allow him to kneel between them and he ducked his head down to kiss from her navel up to her breasts. She brought in a sharp breath as he sucked a hardened nipple into his mouth, sending sparks through her system down to the ever tightening knot in her abdomen. She bit her lip as Troy continued to suckle on her sensitive nipple and massage her other breast with his hand. She moaned as he removed his hand and trailed it down her side to her knee, leaving goosebumps in its path. Troy's hand slid up the inside of her thigh until it reached her pulsing apex. Whith a half moan/half sigh his fingers slid underneath her panty line to her heated folds.

She squirmed as he made slow circles on her clit before he slid two of his fingers into her. Gabriella's hips bucked forward of their accord, straining into his touch as Troy's fingers massaged her insides. She moaned, letting her bottom slip from her mouth as Troy trailed feather kissed down her stomach and then back up. He groaned into her neck: her insides pulsed around his fingers as he slid them in and out slowly. Beads of sweat collected on his forehead as Gabriella felt the heel of his hand meet her clit again.

"Trooooy." She let out in a moan and as her breathing picked up so did the pace of Troy's thrusting. He added another finger and after a few more thrusts he felt her insides clamp down on his fingers and coat his fingers further in liquid from her orgasm. Gabriella's toes curled as the knot uncoiled and she moaned coming down from her high. Troy placed kisses on her neck before claiming her mouth and withdrawing his fingers. Gabriella groaned at the loss, but quickly went after something better: her hands went from Troy's biceps down to his still zipped zipper and relieved some of the strain against his shorts as she unzipped it. Troy scooted closer in to give her better access as she pulled the shorts off his hips. He broke the kiss to hurriedly take them off all the way once they were trapped at his knees. While Troy rid himself of his shorts Gabriella started on her skirt which easily slid off, but in the process her knee met Troy's jaw.

"Oouf!" Troy let out.

Gabriella giggled, "Oh I'm sorry!" She took her hand and rubbed his jaw before she pulled his face to her own so she could kiss the spot. "Better?"

Troy nodded slightly, "Yeah…but if you wanted to assault me I can think of a better way…" His hand pulled against the top of her panties as he leaned in to kiss her again but she spoke instead.

"Assault?..Really Troy?" Troy chuckled and captured her lips in his, his tongue diving into her mouth right away as she lifted her hips so he could slide her panties off. She felt him shiver as her nails softly trailed down his abs to the elastic of his boxers and he let out a hiss as she immediately delved her hand under the fabric and took him in her hand.

"Gabri—_ella._" He moaned as her fingers trailed up the underside of his length. "I—I'm t-too close…" Taking the hint Gabriella withdrew her grasp and pulled his boxers down his legs which he shucked off as he reached for the bedside table drawer. They both breathed heavily as he tore open the foil package. In record time Troy was back settling himself between her legs as he kissed her lightly on the lips a few times. Gabriella could feel the knot fully coiled again and she ached for release. She felt the tip of his throbbing anatomy brush against her entrance as Troy sweetly kissed her. She couldn't stand it any longer,

"Troooy…" she groaned as she moved her hands to the back of his shoulders and gripped him tight. He obliged her plea and slowly entered her causing both of them to intake a breath. Gabriella closed her eyes and she heard the unsteady breathing of Troy as she adjusted herself more comfortably to him. Troy lost control for a second when his hips jerked forwards pushing himself farther into her wet, warm depths. He groaned with need and Gabriella's fingers dug into his shoulder blades.

He braced himself on his hands, which were placed on either side of her head, as he slowly began to retreat and then push in farther. The feel of him inside her drove her wild as her head thrashed from side to side, her mouth letting out a moan which drew a few successive grunts from Troy as he picked up the pace of his thrusting.

"Troooy!" she called out in a moan which drove him to thrust harder into her as she bit her lip. She felt him place kisses on her neck as the knot wound even tighter. He could feel her pulsing walls around him and knew he would be done before much longer so he took one hand and used it to massage her clit as he continued to thrust. He watched her face as her breathing quickened and her eyes closed. Her nails dug into his skin as she threw her head back. Then as her breath caught he felt her insides clamp down around his sex triggering his own release. Without looking Troy knew her toes were curling as she orgasmed and as he reached the height of his own he collapsed on top of her using his forearms to catch himself.

His head bowed down, resting on her chest, as they both breathed heavily. Gabriella ran her fingers through Troy's slightly sweaty hair and he managed to kiss her chest softly a few times between breaths.

"Mmmm…" Gabriella ran her fingers up and down his chest, "I missed you."

Troy smiled into a few more kisses and then felt himself stirring inside her. He slowly withdrew which drew a quick intake of breath from both of them. Gabriella heard the sound of something hitting the bottom of the trashcan before she felt Troy's arms wrap around her and pull her to his chest. He kissed her shoulder and then placed his cheek next to hers.

"Missed you too baby." Troy moved his lips sideways to graze her cheek in a quick kiss. He took his hand to move a strand of hair from her face to tuck it behind her ear, "Love you."

Gabriella smiled, "Love you too Wildcat."


	5. Busy

Gabriella walked into her dorm room to find her roommate sitting on the lounger reading a textbook.

"Hey Kin."

Kinley turned her head to the door, "Oh Hey Gab! How was your weekend?"

"Great! Yours?"

"Busy…lots of studying." Kinley was pre-med and from Sugarland, Texas.

"Oh…" Gabriella nodded her head towards the wall to her right, "They here?" She was referring to their suitemates whom they shared a bathroom with. Gabriella had avoided telling them that Troy played basketball at Berkeley because they were the "jersey chaser" types. They kept up on all the gossip about players.

"I don't know…maybe…? How's your boy?"

"He's good…tired and a little stressed I think, but good."

"I still need to meet this perfect boyfriend of yours."

"Yeah…he said he was going to try to make it up in a couple weeks when he has time off of practice before his classes start."

"That's good, finally! When's he thinkin'?"

"Um…Wednesday I think. He is going to use Monday and Tuesday to prepare for classes. My last final is Wednesday morning so it works out."

"How many finals you got?"

"All my classes are doing the final during the scheduled final time, so 3. Unfortunately that means I'm not going to Troy's this weekend."

"What? You always just do your studyin' there."

"Yeaaah…but I feel bad for taking our time together and just studying. Besides, he has a lot going on too so we just decided for him to come up earlier the next week."

"Hmm…That works I guess."

Gabriella sighed, "Yeah." It works, but she was still going to miss him a lot. She told herself it was in preparation for the fall semester when they likely would be spending a lot more time apart. This thought saddened her as she started unpacking her bag. Suddenly there was a knock on the bathroom door and Liena (Lee-anna) and Sarah walked in from the connecting suite.

"Hey hey girl…we thought we heard your voice." Liena said.

"Yeah…just got in."

"Soooo…how was Berkeley?" Sarah inquired.

"It was really nice."

"Is Troy taking classes this summer?"

"No…he moved in early."

"Why?" Liene wondered. Gabriella really didn't want to tell these two Troy was a basketball player, but they were bound to find out eventually she just had hoped it would be later rather than sooner.

"Um…" She started but then realized something, "Oh crap! Troy! I forgot to call him when I got back, he'll be worried. Hold on I got to call him really quick." She took her cell phone out of her purse and walked into the small bedroom area she shared with Kinley. The line rang several times before going to voicemail,

"Heeeey what's uuuuup? Congrats: You have stumbled upon Troy's voicemail. Here comes the beep, hopefully you know what to do with it….Oh!And have an awesome day." BEEP.

"Hey hun, it's me. I was just calling to let you know I got back okay. I don't know why you aren't answering your phone, but call me later tonight. Okay, miss you already, love you!" She hung up the phone and wondered why Troy hadn't picked up…his practice wasn't for a couple of hours and he knew she was getting home around this time…

* * *

Troy's phone buzzed again and he guessed that it was a voicemail since he didn't take it out of his pocket this time to check. His phone had gone off right when he sat down for his interview and he hoped that by calling that mean Gabriella was home and that she wasn't calling because something was wrong. He didn't know until the last minute that the freshmen were supposed to come in to the sports broadcasting office to do freshmen interviews in order to introduce them to The Golden Bear Nation.

"So Troy just start by saying who you are, where you're from, your age, your height, and your position."

Troy looked past the interviewer to the camera and then back to the interviewer, nervous, "Um..do I look at-"

"You can look at me if that makes you more comfortable." The man's name was Paul and he was head of the media department. There was a college-aged kid behind the camera with a name tag which read Bear Vision and the name Zach Hall. Troy vaguely recognized him as one of the kids that Scott had pointed out to him as apart of the in house video kids.

"Right. Okay." Troy took a deep breath.

"Don't be so nervous Troy…this isn't live. If you mess up you can start over and we can edit it in post."

"Oh…oh ok." Troy visibly relaxed, "Um…okay, Troy Bolton. East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico.18-"

"Um…it would be better if you didn't list it out…" Paul cut him off.

"Huh?"

"You know…" the boy named Zach spoke for the first time, "Hi, my name is Zach Hall and I came from McKinley High School in Santa Monica, California. I am 19 years old and am a 5 – 10 shooting guard."

"Oh right..right, duh, of course." Troy inwardly cursed himself, he was horrible at this, must be the camera because normally he was rather charming. How was he going to do this when it was live? He took a deep breath and tried again, "Hey everybody I'm Troy Bolton and I hail from East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I'm 18 and your new 6 foot point guard." He finished and smiled. That wasn't too bad was it?

"Great…that was perfect." Paul said and Zach nodded in agreement.

"Cool."

"Right, okay. So what do you think of the program so far Troy?"

"Um, I think it's a lot harder than high school ball, but I like a challenge and the vets and coaches are really helping me along so I can get adjusted as fast as possible."

"Which vets?"

"Well of course Scotty, he's the captain, but he has really taken me under his wing and shown me the ropes. He has been a lot of help, but Kent, Jackson, and Walton have been awesome too.

"Great…great. What are you looking forward to most?"

"Well…I think just playing at the higher level in general and what comes with it you know? Like this for example, and the bigger crowds, the bigger pressures, bigger stage…everything."

"What are you most worried about coming into the school year?" Troy didn't know how to answer this exactly, truthfully the thing he worried about most was how his relationship with Gabriella would fair against having no time to spend together, but he wasn't going to say that.

"Um….well…I uh…Just adjusting to this new life: living on my own, basketball, college classes, friends… balancing everything…"

"Uh huh…yeah. So what is your major anyway?"

"Oh, um, theater..or I plan too at least."

"Theater?"

"Yes sir."

"How did you land on that?"

"In high school I met this-well I was introduced to the theater program kind of by chance and it turns out I liked it and so I decided…why not?"

"Why did you decide to become a Golden Bear Troy?"

"Well Coach Cleaves is a great guy and he is really building this program up, and the school also has a theater program."

"But why come all the way to California?"

_Crap…should he really lie?_ "Umm…it's a good location…"

Paul gave him a questioning look but Troy sighed in relief when he moved on to the next question.

A half an hour passed and Troy wondered when this interview was going to end when Paul interrupted his thoughts,

"Okay we are about done, but now I have some rather random questions to ask."

"Okay…"

"Favorite color?"

"What-?"

"I know…you'd be surprised what fans like to know…granted I am not sure they really care that much about your favorite color, but they like to know personal things about you so we try to give them insignificant things like your favorite color."

"Right….okay." Troy cleared his throat, "Blue."

"What's your favorite food?"

"Barbeque."

"Favorite band or music?"

"Umm…indie rock."

"Can you whistle?"

Troy laughed, "Can I whistle?...ummm..Yeah."

"Give it a go."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Umm…okay." Troy began whistling the Berkeley fight song.

"Wow…that's good! A lot better than the other two freshmen."

Troy chuckled, "I try."

"Okay…um, favorite sport besides basketball."

"Well I played golf in high school…but it's not very interesting to watch…so I'd have to say football."

"Cake or pie?"

"Pie."

"What do you do outside of basketball for fun?"

"Um…just hang with friends really…but I want to learn to surf, or sailing maybe."

"Favorite movie."

"Uhhhh…Coach Carter or Hoosiers."

"Favorite book."

Troy's eyes widened in surprise and his mind went blank, he didn't read books for leisure very often. "Uhh-"

Paul laughed, "I'm just kidding…I just wanted to see your response."

"Oh….oook?"

"What's your idea of a perfect date?"

"Ummm..something simple. Like maybe dinner and then a walk on the beach having a really nice chat. Oh wait, I change my mind: something really fun like going hiking or dancing….actually…it's really the person I'm on the date with that makes it special." He smiled, knowing this was definitely true.

"Who is that special person for you?"

"Ex-excuse me?" _Was he really asking him about his girlfriend?_ Troy shifted in his chair, uncomfortable.

"What kind of girl do you go for Troy?"

"Oh…umm….well she has to be smart, and confident but not arrogant, she has to be independent and know who she is. Fun, understanding, polite, down to earth, and just…herself…fake people are not cool in my book."

"Well that's about it…we will meet with you sometime after the campout for a few more questions about your teammates…but we are meeting with everyone then."

"Oh…okay." He stood up and started to take the mic off, "What kind of questions?"

"Oh you know…funny stuff mostly like who takes longest to get ready, who is the funniest…stuff like that."

"Cool,cool."

"Thanks a lot for comin' Troy , nice to meet you."

"Yeah not a problem. Nice to meet you too." He shook Paul's hand and then extended his hand to Zach who looked surprised but shook his hand. "Thanks Zach."

"Uh…yeah, no problem…Troy."

Spencer, one of the basketball managers, popped his head into the room, "Hey…uh I need Troy."

"Oh uh.." Troy turned from looking at Spencer back to Paul.

"Yeah we're done you can take him." Paul said. Troy walked towards the door, "Thanks guys," he said as he walked out.

"Wheeeeew…man, I'm glad that's over with." Troy said as he ran a hand threw his hair and the door shut behind them.

Spencer chuckled, "Man…that is nothin'" Troy was already reaching for his pocket to check his voicemail.

"Huh?"

"That interview is playschool to what you have comin'…the worst is probably the camp out because some fans are unashamed when it comes to asking questions…whereas the media generally keep it to sports and random facts."

"Great." Troy said unenthusiastically as he punched in his voicemail password and listened to Gabriella's voicemail. He sighed in relief. "Alright, good."

"What?"

"Gabriella, my girlfriend, she got back home okay…what did you need me for?" They had walked from the interview room past the locker rooms and to the stairs which Spencer headed up.

"Not me, Coach asked me to come get you. He wanted to talk to you."

"Oh…okay, cool." Troy hoped he wasn't in trouble, but he couldn't think of why he would be.

"Coach?"

"Oh thanks Spence. Have a seat Troy." Coach Cleaves indicated towards one of the chairs in front of his desk as Spencer shut the door behind him. Troy sat down.

"What's up coach?"

"How's it goin' Troy?"

"Uh…pretty good sir, how about you?"

Coach Cleaves chuckled, "Busy…but I wasn't asking the question as an ice breaker Troy. I brought you in here today just to check on how you're doing and how you're adjusting and all that."

"Oh…well…good I guess. It's hard, but I think I am getting used to the work load…and I'm working to adjust to the new style of play."

"Yeah I've noticed. I knew when I recruited you you were a gym rat and I'm happy to say you don't disappoint. Were you in here at 6am the other day?"

"Yes sir…I usually only come in a little early to warm up and stay a couple hours late, but I came in early so I could leave on time."

"So you could spend time with your girlfriend."

"Yeah…she was here for the weekend…"

"Just like she has been almost every weekend."

"Yes sir."

"How's that going? The long distance."

"We're making it work. I know it'll be harder once school starts, but I'm confident Gabriella and I will continue to make it work."

"It's not just the time you'll have to worry about Troy."

"Sir?"

"At this level there is a whole new level of attention you'll get. You're a good looking kid and I am sure you'll have girls screaming for you. Your life as a player here will be very public and even more than that sometimes your private life will become public, and on occasion things that aren't true will become public about you."

"Yes sir."

"I'm just trying to prepare you for what's comin' so you're not shell shocked son."

"Yeah, I appreciate that Coach I really do."

"I suggest you just try to handle it with maturity and a cool head. Present yourself with poise and be very honest with your friends and family about things so they have no reason to question you when you are misquoted in a news story."

"Uh huh…I'll keep that in mind sir….thanks."

* * *

It was now 8:45pm and she still hadn't heard from Troy. She had called him at 3pm and his practice was at 5pm. She pushed her law book aside and grabbed her phone, checking again for a missed call or text message: nothing. Frustrated Gabriella went to use the bathroom only to hear her phone ring once she was in there. It was Troy's ring.

"Ugh! Crap!...Kin can you get that? It's Troy!"

"Uhhh..yeah, no problem." Kinley walked across the room and picked up the phone which had Troy's smiling face glowing on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Heeey baby I'm—wait…Gabriella?"

"No, sorry this is her roommate Kinley…Gabriella is in the bathroom she will be out in a second."

"Oh, yeah I thought your voice sounded different."

"Yeah…sorry I should have said when I answered."

"It's cool…." There was a long pause before Troy interrupted it, "So…you're from Texas right?"

"Yep that's right."

"Cool, cool."

"So I hear you're comin' here in a couple weeks?"

"That's the plan."

"It'll be good to finally meet you...I hear about you ALL the time and have seen all your pictures many times and have never had the pleasure."

Troy chuckled, "All the time huh?"

"You have NO idea-"

"Hey! You're exaggerating" Gabriella came out of the bathroom and extended her hand for the phone.

"Here's Gabriella, see you soon Troy."

"Thanks, see ya." Kinley handed Gabriella the phone who mouthed the word "thanks" to her before putting her ear to the receiver.

"Hey you! Where ya been?"

"Hey…yeah I'm sorry hun…some things came up today I didn't know about which I had to do, but I did get your message, thanks."

"No problem, what things?"

Troy sighed on the other end of the phone, "Ugh….first when you called there was this freshmen interview thing for the team so the fans can get to know us before the season starts. Then Coach Cleaves wanted to meet with me and that was cool except it lasted a really long time…all the way up until practice. And I just got out of practice now…I should have texted you though I'm sorry."

"It's okay…sounds like a busy day!"

"Yeah…tell me about it. But how was your drive?"

"Good I guess…except I was driving away from you."

"Aww…I miss you too baby."

Gabriella sighed. "How was your meeting with your coach?"

"It was cool. He just wanted to check in to see how I am adjusting and give me a heads up as to what it's going to be like once the season starts and stuff."

"That's nice of him. Scared?"

"Scared?" Troy asked confused, "Of what?"

"Well you said he gave you a heads up…heads up of what?"

"Oh…you know…just the media attention and the fans and things like that."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Sounds like big time stuff."

"Not really…just more than I am used to right now."

"Uh huh."

Troy yawned on the other end and Gabriella glanced at the clock, it was almost 9pm now.

"Tired?"

"Nah."

"Troy."

"Maybe a little, but I want to talk to you."

"I want to talk to you too, but you have early practice tomorrow right?"

"Yeah and?"

"And you need to get some sleep."

"Nah."

"Troy…."

"20 minutes isn't going to kill me, beside I'm already lying in bed so I am part way there."

"Troy…" Gabriella was trying to stay strong, but her will power to make him go to bed was crumbling because she too wanted to talk to him.

"Gabriella…"

"You need to go to bed."

"You're right…and I will once I have talked to my girlfriend."

"We have talked."

"Not enough to my liking." Gabriella smiled at his simple, yet adorable comment.

"You know I want to talk to you too, but you need to rest."

"I'll rest when I'm old."

Gabriella couldn't help it, Troy's comment made her giggle. Then she heard an interruption on Troy's end of the phone.

"Troy?"

"Hold on a second babe." She heard Troy's voice distance as he pulled the receiver away from his face and she heard mumbled voices in the distance. She tried to make them out, but it was no use.

"Okay dude." Troy's voice was back to the mic when he said this and then he sighed.

"What?"

"I just miss having you here in my bed with me."

"Me too…but that's not why you sighed."

"You're good." Troy said almost accusingly.

"I know…. What's up?"

"That was Luke…practice was moved up."

"To when?"

Troy hesitated on the other end and took in a deep breath, "Mmmmm"

"Troy?"

"5:30."

"5:30?"

"Yeah…"

"Why so early?" At this rate these boys were going to conk out before the season started.

"Coach has a meeting that was moved up."

Gabriella sighed, not knowing how to respond. She wanted to complain or rant about how his coach was being too hard on them, but she knew it wouldn't do any good and she didn't understand this new college sports world.

"I know babe….I know." Troy paused and sighed again, "And…unfort-"

"You have to go."

Troy let out a breath, "Yeah…sorry…I have to get up at 4:30 now which is in 7 and a half hours. I can get by on less sleep but-"

"But you already are playing catch up."

"Yeah…I'm sorry baby."

"Don't be…I'm the one who told you you should go."

"Yeaaaah, but you didn't really mean it."

Gabriella sighed, "Okay, maybe I didn't…"

"Love you."

She sighed again, "Love you too."

"I'll call you tomorrow sweetie. Miss you."

"Miss you more."

"Impossible." Troy kissed once into the phone, "Talk to you tomorrow, sweet dreams love."

"You too. Night."

"Night."

Gabriella hung up the phone and let out a groan.

"What's up?" Kinley asked from her desk across the room.

"Nothing…." Gabriella looked at her law book and decided she wasn't going to get anything productive done before her morning class tomorrow, "I'm going to bed. Night."

"Okay…Night."

* * *

"Heeeey what's uuuuup? Congrats! You have stumbled upon Troy's voicemail. Here comes the beep, hopefully you know what to do with it….Oh!And have an awesome day." BEEP. Gabriella sighed.

"Hey Troy, just calling back…again. Hopefully we can talk tonight, I miss you. I have study group tonight again at 5…I'll call you. Love you." She sighed again and hung up the phone, she had been playing phone tag with Troy for the better part of 3 days and it was now Monday of her finals week. Troy was supposed to be coming on Wednesday since he had the week off of practice. Gabriella considered this: Troy had the week off…what was he so busy doing today that they still kept missing each other's calls?

The finals week schedule had dealt her with 3 finals, one each on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. She usually preferred them to be spread out so she had time between each to study, but this time it worked to her benefit since Troy could come that much sooner. Her Media Law final had gone well today and now she had to meet with a study group to prepare for her Law Policy exam. She checked her phone for the time and saw she had 30 minutes before she would have to be at the Law Library to study. Kinley was out, probably studying or getting coffee. Gabriella really wanted Troy to call and so she kept glancing at her phone, but only made the time crawl by slower. Finally she let out a sigh in frustration, stood up, grabbed her bag and keys, and left the room intending to arrive early and look over her notes while waiting for her group. At this point she would do anything to provide even a little distraction to herself.

* * *

"What do you mean I have class this week? They don't start until next week…"

"Just two days…it's a class all incoming athletes have to take to better prepare them for adjusting to an upcoming hectic schedule with a lot of things to keep in mind." Troy eyed the stout lady sitting across the desk from him. He had come here to solidify his schedule for the upcoming semester and now it looked like this lady was trying to ruin his week off. How come he hadn't been told about this earlier?

"Coach didn't say anything about this."

"Well the university was going to get rid of the class, but thankfully a few of us lobbied last week to bring it back. We just got word this weekend that it was reinstated."

"Great." Troy definitely did not share her enthusiasm, in fact he wished the class had stayed gone.

"Definitely. See, Troy, this isn't a normal class with grades and such. Think of it more as an informative meeting about how to handle your new life and stay out of trouble."

"Trouble?"

"Well yes, of course. Being a student athlete means you are a representative of this university and so your actions reflect upon this school."

"Well yeah, but do I need a class to tell me to stay out of trouble? I mean-"

"Of course not, but there ARE some things you might not have thought of…like for example posting things on facebook which can be read by everyone including the media. Maybe saying or doing compromising things that could lead to your losing your scholarship."

"But I don't-"

"I am not saying that you WOULD do anything illegal Troy, but it never hurts to be informed. Student athletes have to be MUCH more careful about what they say and do because the consequences are much more severe. This class informs you about these things ahead of time, as well as how to talk to media and what kind of information you cannot disclose."

"But what if-"

"Besides Mr. Bolton the class is _required_ for _all_ student athletes at this school." Troy sighed. Gabriella was going to _love_ this.

"Okay." Troy was livid and he was sure his face showed it.

"Now don't you worry. We have great reviews from athletes. They all say it's very helpful and besides it is only on Wednesday and Thursday night."

Oh perfect…the long week with Gabriella was shot now too, he had been hoping for tomorrow and Wednesday morning. "Night? Can't I take it say…tonight and tomorrow instead…or just read a book about it?"

"I'm afraid not , that is not an option."

"Oh…"

"It goes by fast: just from 7 to 10pm both days."

"7 to _10?_!" _That_…did _not _seem fast AT ALL.

"That's right! No time at all really!"

"Yeah…" Troy was sure his voice came out thick with sarcasm, but the lady either didn't notice or pretended not to.

"So, is that why you came in here then? To ask about the class?" This lady was really thick: hadn't Troy said he didn't know about it in the first place?

"No…just making sure my schedule was cool."

"Oh! Alright…" The lady typed Troy's name into her computer, "Let me see…oh yes! Here we are!" She squinted at the screen and murmured to herself a few times. "So you are currently enrolled in Introduction to Acting and then the university requirements of College Writing and History: US Settlement to Civil War. Does that sound correct?"

"Um…sure."

"You do know that your acting course will be dropped if you don't pass the audition process correct?"

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Bolton there is a required audition for the Theater program. Once you pass the audition you are let into the class officially and then once you take the first two required courses then you are able to formally declare theater as your major."

"Oh…I guess I didn't know that."

"Well, you do now. Oh and of course your books are available for pick up at the student bookstore…just give them your name and they'll have them for you." Troy sat uncomfortably in his seat…Gabriella had been right after all: he SHOULD have figured this all out sooner. He hadn't known that he would have to audition…what if he didn't get in? Then how foolish would he look?

"Do you have anymore questions Troy?"

"No, thanks I think I'm cool. You have been a huge help." _And put a huge weight on my shoulders _he thought. Troy got up and left the office heading for the bookstore.

* * *

"I don't think the exam will be that in depth Andrew."

"Better safe than sorry right Gabriella?" Gabriella was finding it hard to focus, it was 8 p.m. and still not a word from Troy. Not even a text message. As much as she needed to study, this distraction was starting to get the best of her. Admittedly though she had been at it for 3.5 hours straight and this was the first time she dazed off.

"Gabriella?" Gabriella blinked.

"What?...Sorry."

"Do you think we should go over the case numbers and the people involved in each again?" Andrew asked.

"Umm…it couldn't hurt, but I would make sure we get everything else down first before going that in depth."

"Told you." Mindy said. Gabriella's phone rang then, causing her to jump. She already knew it was Troy and so she was scrambling out of her seat, knocking things over as she did.

"Sorry!...Oh sorry! I have to take this guys I'm sorry!" She quickly walked around the corner and answered in a hushed voice.

"Hey! I'm so excited you called!"

Troy chuckled on the other end and he too spoke in a whisper, "So excited you lost your voice apparently." Gabriella could almost see him wink at her in her mind's eye and smiled.

"Sorry, I'm in the library still. Hold on I am almost outside."

"Oh…well if you're still studying-"

"No no! It's okay, we are almost done and I really just needed to hear your voice."

"Same." Gabriella reached the doors leading outside and exited the building, now able to talk normally.

"I feel like I haven't spoken to you in forever."

"Yeah…I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault Troy. It happens, it's been busy."

"Yeah…oh how did you final today go?"

"Really well I think. I have my policy one tomorrow and then Ethics Wednesday morning. I should be done by 11am so you can show up anytime after then."

"Yeah…um…" Troy cleared his throat, "Gabriella we have to talk about that…I think you might get upset with me…"

Gabriella's face immediately fell in disappointment, "Oh no…"

"Yeah…so I was running around today figuring out stuff for next week which is why I couldn't answer my phone. I had a meeting with a counselor about my schedule and she told me I have this…class…" Troy rolled his eyes at the word, "I have to attend this week…"

"I don't understand, classes don't start until next week…" Gabriella said slowly.

"Yeah…that's what I thought, but apparently there is a special class for student athletes that we all have to take. It's only 2 days and it isn't for a grade, but it's required and its Wednesday and Thursday…"

"So you can't make it until Thursday…"

"Right…I'm so sorry babe."

Gabriella sighed, "Well you're right…I am upset…but not with you, it's out of your control. So what time Thursday then?

"You're not gonna like it…"

"Just tell me."

"Probably around midnight…"

"Wait… midnight as in _Friday_ morning?"

"Yeah…"

She groaned, "Trooooy…"

"I know…I'm sorry…I feel awful…"

Gabriella let out a breath of frustration, "That means you can't come until Friday…."

"Well _technically_ I guess…but I'll still be there to sleep the night with you…"

"No I mean you can't come until Friday morning Troy…you can't drive here that late."

"What? Sure I can, why not?"

"I don't want you driving that late after a long day and class."

"It won't be a long day, I can sleep in and get plenty of rest before class."

"Troooy…"

"Look Gabriella…I'm not going to spend ANOTHER night away from you if I don't have to. Don't worry I'll be fine."

Gabriella sighed.

"Trust me."

"I do."

"_Wellll…_then…"

She sighed again, "We'll discuss this later."

"Sweetie we can discuss it all you want, but I'll still be there Thursday night." As much as she didn't want him driving that late by himself the selfish part of her really wanted him to be there with her as soon as humanly possible.

"Okay fine but you will call me if you get tired and need someone to talk to to keep you awake."

"Done."

"Promise me Troy."

Troy chuckled, "I promise."

"Okay good." There was silence on the line then for a few moments before Troy spoke up,

"Hey…"

"What?"

"I miss you…"

Gabriella sighed, "I miss you too Wildcat….did you get your courses sorted?"

"Yeah…I guess."

"What do you mean you guess?" Her tone was weary…were there more not so good surprises in addition to the one he already disclosed?

"Nothing…it's all cool."

"Uh huh…" she was not convinced.

"True story…I'll tell you about what courses I'm takin when I'm there."

"Why not now?"

"Because as much as I love talking to you and as much as I really really don't want to stop because it has been far too long since I have heard your voice…you have a study group waiting for you."

Gabriella groaned, "Ohhhh Troy…that's not-"

"It's important Gabriella… you have a final tomorrow."

She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to win this one and even more than that she knew she did have at least a couple more hours of studying to go before she felt over-prepared, which is how she preferred to feel.

"Okay fine, but can I call you when I get home?"

"You better."

Gabriella smiled in anticipation.

"I'm serious though, even if it's late please give me a call or text me."

"I don't think I'll be late, but if I am I don't want to wake you up…"

"Please do…even if we don't talk long I want to make sure you got home okay."

"Oh Troy! Honestly! I'll be fine!"

"Just humor me Gabriella…you never know…beautiful girl on her own on a dark campus…"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "You're being paranoid."

"No I'm being realistic and smart. I would prefer if you didn't walk alone actually."

Gabriella wasn't naïve, she knew things like what Troy was insinuating did happen. But she also knew that it was generally to girls who weren't paying attention, who walked in unlit areas, or had other vulnerabilities like being intoxicated AND Stanford has very low rates for assault. "I'll see what I can do about getting an escort."

"This isn't funny to me Gabriella. If I was there then I would come pick you up and walk you myself but-"

"Troy that is just crazy!"

"What?"

"What if I didn't leave until 3am?"

"Then I would ask if I could spend the night so I didn't have to walk back to my own dorm at 3:15am after walking you home."

"Oh yeah…someone could attack you too." Gabriella said half-sarcastically.

Troy scoffed, "No…I'd just be tired and want to crash." Gabriella knew she was being silly, but she thought maybe all the studying had worn her brain out. However, she didn't like Troy worrying about her so much…she _could_ take care of herself and was an adult.

"Gabriella…please…"

"Okay…fine…I'll call."

"Thank you."

"Sure."

"You need to get back to studying."

She sighed.

"I'll talk to you later…promise."

"Okay…"

"Goodluck with studying."

"Thanks" she said half-heartedly.

"I love you."

"Love you too."

"Bye sweetheart."

"Bye."


	6. Last Weekend of Summer P1

_**A/N: Hey guys...**_

_**LONG TIME since the last update I know. I apologize! The truth is I had a version of this written a long time ago, but didn't end up liking it at all. Then I ended up deleting,re-writing, editing, re-doing, and changing it countless times...not ever really happy with it. In fact, the first version was quite a different story than I ended up with here. It's just been a struggle to write something that I could live with putting up. In addition to my dissatisfaction with it, I also have been really busy.**_

_**That being said, I already have a good chunk of story written after this point so it shouldn't be TOO long until the next update I hope. On a similar note, if you have any suggestions, feedback, criticism even PLEASE let me know... this update took as long as it did because I kept thinking my ideas were boring or not right. Thanks for the comments thus far and thanks for bearing with me through the drought, but I promise this story isn't dead...there are too many scenes I can't wait to write (but they have to come later). **_

**_Much love,_**

**_MacKenzie Rae_**

**_P.S. Although it took FOREVER to update I DID make this chapter especially long for you guys! :-)  
_**

* * *

It was 11:32pm on Thursday when Troy pulled into the small parking lot outside Gabriella's dorm, he was early and intended to surprise her at her door. He reached across the seat of his truck to retrieve his duffel bag and exited the cab. His steps were rushed as his anticipation of seeing Gabriella grew. He went through the first set of doors into the breeze way where there was a scrawny blonde haired guy with a red face sitting at a small table reading a book blocking the path into the lobby. Troy glanced questionably before moving to go through one of the doors the guy wasn't sitting in front of, but as he did so the guy spoke up,

"Do you have an ID?"

Troy stopped in his tracks and looked at him, "Huh?"

The guy sighed with boredom and annoyance, "An ID…you need an ID to get in the dorm after 10."

"Oh…well sure, I have my driver's license." Troy reached for his wallet in his back pocket, but stopped when the guy gave out another frustrated sigh and put his book down.

"A STUDENT ID." He eyed Troy before adding, "But something tells me you don't live here or you would have already known that. In that case it is policy that I can't let you in this dormitory without a resident to sign you in."

Troy's brow furrowed: this would mean that his surprising Gabriella would be ruined, "Hey man…can you just let me through for one min-"

"-Hey _man_….No."

Troy backed up slightly at the guy's abrupt and harsh retort. "I'm not trying cause trouble, I just wanted to surprise my girlfriend…which I can't do if I have to call her down here. Help a guy out? I'd really appreciate it."

"Oh that _is_ what I live for…helping _you_ out." He rolled his eyes and returned to reading his book. Troy stood there awkwardly and sighed through his nose: no use arguing with someone so grumpy. He pulled out his phone and speed dialed Gabriella.

"Hey Troy! You almost here?"

"Almost…" Troy said almost bitterly as he glared at the guy at the desk, then he turned and walked a few paces away to the other side of the breezeway.

"Where you at?"

"Downstairs."

Gabriella gasped, "What? You're here already?"

Troy sighed, "Sort of."

"What do you mean…?"

"Well I am downstairs, but this dude won't let me-"

"-Oh! Kevin! That's right…I forgot I had to sign you in! I'll be right down."

"Okay." Troy hung up the phone and then walked back over to the guy. "So…'Kevin' is it?"

The guy looked up from his book to Troy and merely nodded before returning to the text.

"Is there anything I need to do…to sign in?" Troy inquired. Kevin sighed and pulled out a form and a pen.

"Resident's name."

"Gabriella Montez. M-O-N-T-E-Z" Troy answered and Kevin wrote.

"And you are…"

"Her boyfriend." Troy answered immediately, but his reply elicited another frustrated sigh from Kevin and the rolling of his eyes.

"Your NAME."

Troy flushed a little in embarrassment, "Oh…Troy Bolton." He wondered what was taking Gabriella so long.

"How long are you staying." Kevin asked in a bored voice.

"Ummm…maybe one night, maybe the whole weekend…it depends…I'm not sure yet I have to ask-" Troy cut off because Gabriella appeared through a door in the entryway and smiled wide when she saw Troy.

"You're early!" She said as she skipped over to the door where Kevin blocked Troy's entry. "Hey Kevin, he's with me." Gabriella smiled down at him.

"So I hear." He looked between the two lovers and let out a breath through his nose before adding, "I need your student ID, a photo ID from him, and how long he is staying." Gabriella smiled at Troy as she produced her student ID from her lanyard.

"Here ya go," She handed it over. "How did you get here so fast?" Troy retrieved his driver's license from his wallet, "I have my ways…." he said with a wink. He handed his license to Kevin who rolled his eyes. Gabriella giggled,

"Hmmm…sounds interesting."

"Not really…but I do have _something_ interesting to propose to you…"

"Huh?"

"You still haven't told me how long he is staying."

Troy ignored Kevin, "I'll tell ya in a minute."

"Okay…" Gabriella's mind wandered off to the numerous possibilities that could be Troy's proposal. She just hoped that it wasn't more bad news.

"Can someone just tell me how long he is staying so you two can leave?" Kevin demanded with irritation. Troy, who was smiling at Gabriella, regrettably broke his gaze from his girlfriend down to Kevin.

"If I say I am staying for the weekend, but am only staying for one night is that cool?"

Gabriella frowned at this, "Troy what're you-?" Troy put his hand up to Gabriella indicating for her to hold on. Kevin took in a breath and explained,

"That's fine I guess, just pick up your license from the desk when you leave."

"Cool." Troy smiled, "So I can come in? I'm cool?"

"You both just have to sign this sheet." He slid the sheet over to Troy who signed it quickly and passed it over Kevin to Gabriella.

"Troy…" She scolded, "Who can read this?" She signed her own name.

"What?" He replied innocently

"Your signature." She held up the paper and pointed to the scribble that vaguely resembled "T. Bo&~^~^^"

"What's wrong with it?" Troy gave her a questioning look, "Looks like my signature to me." Gabriella laughed through her nose with a closed mouth smile on her face and shook her head,

"Oh you…"

Troy gave her his smile that always makes her heart ache, and then turned to Kevin, "So, we're good officer Kevin?" Kevin gave him a disparaging look before replying sarcastically,

"Funny."

Troy shrugged and smirked, but then his smile faded when he saw Kevin clearly didn't care for his joke, "Sorry…"

"Right." Kevin opened the door behind him and let Troy in who immediately gave Gabriella a hug and kiss on the cheek,

"Hey sweetie, miss me? Ooof course you did." Gabriella giggled in response as Troy readjusted his bag on his shoulder and slung an arm around her.

"So, where to?"

"This way" Gabriella said smiling up at her boy and leading the way, but she turned back quickly to shout, "Oh thanks Kevin!" He ignored her and continued to read his book.

"What's his problem?" Troy whispered as they walked through the door leading to the stairway.

"Oh that's just Kevin…he is annoyed easily."

"What a great quality for a doorman!" Troy said and Gabriella giggled. As Troy and Gabriella held hands walking up the stairs Gabriella remembered she had a few questions for Troy,

"Sooo what is this interesting proposal?"

Troy laughed, "Got ya wonderin' didn't I?"

"I'm always wondering about you Troy and what wacky thing you will say or do next." She teased.

Troy laughed as he raised their linked hands to his mouth and kissed the back of her hand, "You know me well… what would you say if I said maybe we don't stay at your place all weekend…"

Gabriella eyed him suspiciously, "I would say as long as we spend the weekend together I am up for any crazy scheme you have come up with this time."

"_Scheme_?" He picked out her word choice. They reached the 3rd floor, her floor, and Troy held the door open for her, "Mah lady…"

"Why thank you." She replied, stepping through and leading the way down her hall to her door, "Anyway…your plan?"

"Oh right. Well, I was hoping you'd say that because that means we are going to a beach house in Santa Cruz tomorrow morning!" Gabriella stopped at her door, but didn't open it. Her head whipped around to look at a giddy Troy, a look of shock on her face,

"What?"

"Scott's family has a house on the beach there and he invited the team for the weekend! Isn't that wild?" Gabriella's face fell and Troy narrowed his eyes at her reaction, "You don't want to go…?"

"No that sounds lovely…you should go Troy." She turned to open the door but Troy caught her hand.

"_I_ should go? What do you mean? _We_ are going!"

Gabriella sighed, "You said he invited the _team_."

Troy chuckled once and rolled his eyes playfully before leaning in to kiss Gabriella quickly on the lips, "Sorry…I should have specified that he said we could bring girlfriends if we wanted…" He smiled and kissed her forehead, "Besides…why would I ever want to spend the weekend at a beach house if you weren't there with me?"

Gabriella hit his chest playfully, "Oh hush! As if you wouldn't have fun." Troy corralled her in his arms, pulling her against his body.

"I don't find it much fun sitting around missing my extraordinary girlfriend…moping doesn't do well with me." He smiled down at her.

Gabriella shook her head, but smiled, "You're such a cheeseball."

"Yeaaah…but you still love me," was his cocky response as he leaned in and kissed her more fully on the lips, "Mmm…been too long since I could do that."

Gabriella responded almost unintelligibly as she went on her tip toes to kiss him again, "Yes…yes it has." Troy took in a breath through his nose as he deepened the kiss, letting his tongue trace the line of her full lips. She opened her mouth to his and sighed as their tongues met. Gabriella slid her hands up his chest and around his neck to run her hands through his hair as he caught her bottom lip between his teeth. His arms about her waist anchored her to him and his muscles strained to pull her closer as his own hips jutted forward into her, suddenly the door opened and the couple pulled apart in a rush.

"Oh…sorry…" A guilty faced Kinley assessed the situation she had just interrupted, "I was just coming to see what happened to you…"

"It's okay Kin…ummm.." She reached for Troy's hand, "This is Troy. Troy, this is my roommate Kinley Reed." Troy nodded in her direction,

"Nice to finally meet you." He released Gabriella's hand so he could extend it to Kinley who shook it.

"Yeah…about time!"

"Yeah…sorry about that…busy."

"So I heard." Kinley glanced over to Gabriella who blushed,

"Oh you exaggerate!" She huffed. Troy laughed at her defensiveness.

The three of them stepped into the dorm room and Kinley shut the door behind them.

"So this is our common area…" Gabriella indicated to the decent sized room which had 2 desks, a lounger, a mini-fridge, some storage bins, and a small TV. Troy smiled to himself, thinking about the stark difference between his girlfriend's common room and his: the emphasis was clearly on the girls' studies and not a giant HD TV to play video games on.

"Great…cozy."

"And this…" Gabriella stepped around Troy and Kinley to head back towards the door but then indicated another one to the right of it, "is the bathroom we share with the girls in the room next door." She opened the door and Troy glanced in: it was a small bathroom with pale yellow walls and a door on the other side which Troy assumed led to their suitemate's room. There was also a sink with a cabinet above it, a single shower with a colorful curtain, a toilet, and opposite the sink were various containers holding toiletries on the floor and planks of wood leaned up against the wall.

"What are these?" Troy questioned pointing to the wood.

"Shelves." Gabiella sighed.

"Umm…wouldn't they work better on the wall…?"

" smarty." Gabriella nudged Troy, "They don't stay up."

Troy dropped his bag and edged past Gabriella into the bathroom picking up one of the pieces of wood and then inspected the bracket on the wall. There was a flat metal piece attached, but no bracket to hold up the shelf, "Well…I think you're missing something…"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Troy…we KNOW that we can't put the shelves up without the other pieces…" She went to the cabinet over the sink and pulled out 4 brackets. "We just can't get these to stay attached to those." She pointed to the flat metal pieces on the wall. Troy held out his hand and Gabriella placed one of the brackets in it. He inspected it and then fit it to the flat metal piece on the wall.

"We tried that and it won't stay…" Kinley offered.

Troy brought his face close to the joined pieces and shifted it until it snapped in place, "There…now you just need to tighten this screw. Got a screw driver?" The girls looked at each other and Troy chuckled, "Guess not…"

"Maybe Liena or Sarah does…" Gabriella knocked on the door which led to their room…she hoped they weren't sleeping. She peeked her head in, "Oh hey Sarah…do you or Liena happen to have a screwdriver?"

"What for?" Troy heard through the open doorway.

"Troy is here and he needs a screwdriver to fix the shelves in the bathroom."

Troy heard the sound of bodies getting up and rushing over to the door, "The elusive Troy is here?" Then Troy saw the faces of two girls peering around Gabriella.

"Uh…yeah, I guess so…" Troy responded scratching his head with his right hand as his left held the bracket in place.

"Troy these are our suitemates Liena and Sarah. Guys this is Troy."

"Girl your pictures do not do him justice…" Liena said. She was short with dark brown, curly hair and bright blue eyes. Troy cleared his throat uncomfortably,

"So any of you ladies have a screwdriver?"

"Oh I do! I think…My dad got me this tool kit thing, he said I might need it…there might be a screwdriver in there." Sarah exclaimed and disappeared from the doorway.

"So when did you get here?" Liena asked smiling.

"Maybe 2 minutes ago." Troy replied.

"And she already put you to work? At…" Liena looked over her shoulder, "midnight?"

Troy chuckled, "Yeah, she's a slave driver." He winked at Gabriella who smiled and shook her head,

"Hey I didn't ask him to do anything, he took it upon himself when he saw the shelves."

"Well somebody has to do it since it seems you girls weren't going to." Troy shrugged.

"Well," Sarah returned and handed Troy a black nylon case who then handed it to Gabriella to open, "none of the rest of us have handy boyfriends…so we had to wait for Gabriella to bring hers around to fix it for us."

"Is that right?" Troy said to Liena while looking at Gabriella opening the case and pulling out a large screwdriver, "No I need a small Phillips babe." Gabriella looked up at him, clueless. Troy smiled, "The one with the cross on the end sweetheart." Gabriella located a small Phillips and pointed to it,

"This one?"

"That should work, give it here." Gabriella handed him the screw driver and Troy held it up and chuckled, "Nice…can't say I have ever seen pink tools before…" He used the pink handled tool to tighten the screw on the perimeter of the bracket to hold it in place. Sarah, a tall, but rail thin blonde shrugged,

"I figured they might as well be pretty!"

Troy smiled in response as he tugged on the bracket to make sure it was secure, "There. 3 more. Hand me another one will ya hun?"

"If you don't mind…after you're done here…our tv stand is wobbly…" Liena suggested.

"Lee…it's midnight and Troy must be tired, maybe he can look at it tomo-" Gabriella started, but Troy cut her off as he finished tightening the second bracket and held his hand out for the third,

"It's okay Gabriella…I'll take a look at it and see what I can do…Gabriella and I are leaving early tomorrow on a short trip so tonight would be my only chance to fix it for you guys."

Gabriella and Sarah spoke at the same time, "How early?" "Oh, where are you going?"

Troy glanced at the group of girls, "We are going to my teammate's family house on the beach in Santa Cruz. I thought we would leave around 6:00…"

"6:00!" Gabriella exclaimed. Troy finished tightening the third and stopped to look at Gabriella,

"Yeah…is that okay?"

"Why on earth so early?"

"We are supposed to meet at the house at 8."

"Okay, but what are you planning to do about sleep?"

"What do you mean?"

"The fact that you won't be getting any…"

Troy smiled and cupped the side of Gabriella's face with his hand and let it slide down under her chin. His thumb gently rubbed under her bottom lip, "I'll be fine."

"Troy-" She began.

"Shush…don't worry. Hand me that last bracket will you please?" Gabriella obliged and Troy finished tightening the screw. He placed the shelves on the brackets, "There. Done." Liena, Kinley, and Sarah clapped.

"Yay! Aren't you handy?Thanks!" Liena complimented him.

"Heh…no problem. So where's this TV stand?"

"Over here." Liena and Sarah led the way into their room and Troy followed them kissing Gabriella's hair and grabbing her hand as he walked by.

* * *

Troy shut off the bathroom light and padded across the floor to the full-size pulled out lounger, Gabriella was curled up and turned towards the wall wearing one of Troy's old wildcat t-shirts. He smiled as he climbed under the covers next to her and kissed her cheek,

"Night babe."

No response. He knew she was awake so he tried again, "Gabriella?"

"What?" He tone was less than inviting: _uh oh. _He proceeded with caution,

"Are you…mad at me for some reason…?"

She turned towards him and glared.

Troy leaned away, a little nervous, "Okay, so you're definitely mad…" He racked his brain quickly to think of what he had done. He spoke slowly and without confidence, "Do you not want to go to the beach house?"

"Troy do you know what time it is?" Her voice was stern and it had Troy backpedaling.

"Um…2…?" He wasn't even sure of that factual answer at this point.

"Yeah, and what time do you want to get up?"

"5:30…?" _Just apologize now…it's a trap, it's a trap._

"And then leave at 6 right? To drive 2 hours…" She turned towards him.

"You can sleep in the car…" Troy said apprehensively and as he did Gabriella sat up and started whisper shouting,

"But YOU can't Troy!" Troy was taken aback by this: she couldn't really be upset about Troy's lack of sleep. However, before Troy could think of a good reply she continued, "And you don't even care! I mean we could have been in bed by 12:30, but NO you had to go fix their TV stand and then spend the next hour chatting it up and telling them about basketball!" Ah…there it was: the real reason she was upset. Troy sat up and cradled Gabriella's face in his hands,

"Gabriella…come on…I was just being nice to your friends…but I came here to spend time with YOU…my girlfriend whom I love very much. And it is YOU I am taking to Scott's beach house tomorrow."

"You don't get it Troy…Liena and Sarah are jersey chasers."

Troy let his hands fall and shrugged, "So?"

"'So?'!" Gabriella threw her hands up in the air.

"Yeah…so what?" He shrugged again, "It doesn't really matter since there is nothing for them to chase."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "You think just because you are in a relationship that is going to stop them?"

"Well, I would hope so yes…especially since they are friends of yours…"

"They are suitemates…but not really _friends _per se_." _She retorted.

_"_But even so…even if they do chase, they are wasting their time since I only have eyes for one girl." He touched his finger to the tip of Gabriella's nose.

"But-" She was silenced by Troy kissing her quickly and then placing a finger over her lips.

"You are being silly" Troy laughed. "I love YOU Gabriella. Okay?"

"It's not silly Troy." Gabriella folded her arms sighing in frustration.

Troy sighed, he loved his girlfriend but she worried a lot unnecessarily which many times resulted in him having to either reassure her or make her see she was going overboard. It seemed this was one of those times, but he was tired and running low on patience tonight. Troy ran a hand through his hair, "Babe…this is ridiculous…you're mad at me fo-"

"-Oh well…_sorry_ for being _ridiculous _Troy," Troy took in a breath and closed his eyes while she continued to monologue, waiting for her to be done. "I am just trying to tell you that Liena and Sarah are going to come after you and you don't even think that is a problem! In fact you told them they should 'hit you up if they come to a game'! That only encourages them Troy! Even if they are my suitemates, they will still try to get to you, so…_sorry_ if my concern is ridiculous to you!" Troy opened his eyes and put his hands in his hair, tugging at it in frustration. This wasn't fair: he hadn't done anything wrong and now he was losing sleep to get yelled at for said nothing. He took a calculated breath before speaking because he didn't want to get angry,

"Okay…A: stop whisper yelling at me, that isn't necessary. B: It really doesn't matter what Liena and Sarah do because I'm not interested, and frankly you really shouldn't be freaking out over two girls who live so far away from _me_ and right-next-door-to-_you_." He stressed the last part, "How are you going to handle it when the season starts and inevitably there are some girls who want to get with me and they live on the same campus and away from your eyes and ears? C: I was being polite when I told them to let me know if they come to a game!" He voice rose slightly. "And you _know_ that. They don't even have my number…for goodness sakes Gabriella! And D: I don't appreciate being reprimanded for something I didn't do, but rather for something you are insinuating I _will_ do in the future which means you don't trust me,"

"I-" Gabriella started, but Troy put a hand up to silence her and continued, " which sucks Gabriella…because I trust you implicitly. There are plenty of guys who I am SURE would love to take you out even if you don't tell me about them, but you don't see me getting all hot-headed over it. So I would appreciate it if you returned to me the same trust I have in you. I didn't drive all the way down here for _this._" Gabriella hung her head slightly, she felt horrible for upsetting him but at the same time defensive. She wasn't the insecure person this conversation made her out to be, she didn't know what had gotten in to her. Maybe it was the distance between them and all the disappointments this week when it came to their time together. There once was a time she thought she could leave Troy, but the more time they were together and the more they went through as a couple, the more attached Gabriella had become. Her life certainly didn't revolve around Troy, but now she couldn't imagine her life without him and the thought of losing him definitely worried her. Was she overreacting? She decided she was, but chalked it up to a long stressful week and little sleep. However, she still had a few things on her mind before making peace,

"I'm sorry I yelled…that wasn't fair of me to do, but in my defense you never take things seriously enough Troy…I might be too serious at times, but you are too at ease and I think that is why it worries me about these girls…if you aren't going to-"

"Gabriella…" Troy grabbed her hand and kissed it, "We will deal with that when and IF we come to it…for now though you are _anticipating_ a problem where there isn't one and making it into a big deal."

"Okay… I overreacted…I know…and it's not that I don't trust you Troy…I DO. I'm sorry I made you think I don't, I just think your charm is going to cause trouble in the future with jersey chasing girls on your campus…" She sighed, "I don't know…" She shook her head. Troy leaned forward and kissed her forehead,

"We are both tired sweetheart…emotions are always heightened at night and when you're on little sleep. What now seems like a big deal might seem silly in the morning…so I suggest we sleep on it." Gabriella nodded, when did he get so insightful? Troy took her face between his hands and kissed her tenderly on the lips, "I love you." "I love you too."

"Good." He smiled and kissed her forehead, "Done being mad at me?"

"I wasn't mad…just…"

"Jealous." He finished for her as he settled back down in bed which earned him a punch on his bare chest from his girlfriend in response. He grunted and laughed, "Hey!"

"Was not…" She said burying her face in his chest and he encircled her in his arms. She turned on her side and nestled herself against his side, slipped one leg to rest between his, and fit her head under his chin.

"Aww…it's okay …I happen to think you're adorable when you're jealous." _When you don't go overboard_, he finished silently then kissed the top of her head.

"Yeah right."

"I'm serious!" He squeezed her tighter for a moment. "Now…as you pointed out it is late and we do have to get up early…sooo goodnight, sweet dreams, and I love you."

"Love you too."

* * *

"You should get some sleep." Troy said for maybe the 10th time since they left her dorm 7 minutes ago. He had one arm around Gabriella who was curled up to his side with her head on his chest and her hands on his upper thigh. Troy glanced at the clock, it was 6:15am, somehow they had left close to on time. Troy yawned, Gabriella had been right: 3 hours, well 2.5 when all was said and done, of sleep was not sufficient.

"No, I'm alright…" came Gabriella's soft, sleepy reply, "I want to stay up to talk to you, so you don't fall asleep." Troy smiled to himself,

"I'm fine Gabriella…promise. Get a couple more hours sleep." He felt her shake her head against his chest,

"How was your class?"

"A waste of time."

"Troy," she responded disapprovingly.

"It was…they just talked about how facebook can cause you to lose your scholarship or encourage stalkers." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Basically all they had to say was make everything on facebook private, don't accept friend requests from people you don't know, and don't put anything you wouldn't want the school to see on there…it hardly required 2 days of class."

"Oh," was the half-asleep reply. Troy ran his hand up and down the skin of her arm as he felt her breathing slow, he hoped she would be asleep soon. His hopes were dashed however when she spoke again, "Troy…"

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you're here...and sorry for last night…again." She inwardly cursed herself a moment for her irrational attack on him. While her concern was genuine, she did take it over the top and was overly dramatic. _Troy was right_, she thought, everything is heightened at night and she did feel quite silly about it this morning. She nuzzled her face closer into his chest.

Troy laughed once through his nose and gave her a little squeeze, "Me too." Gabriella took a deep breath in and turned her face up to kiss the bottom side of his chin,

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Got it covered."

"Mmkay."

* * *

Troy exited off the highway in Santa Cruz and Gabriella stirred beneath his right arm: she had fallen asleep despite her best efforts not to. As Troy braked at the light he felt her take a deep breath in through her nose,

"Mmmm…you smell good."

Troy chuckled, "Why thanks…" Gabriella opened her eyes then and sat up slightly. She squinted into the morning light and then gasped, turning quickly to look at Troy,

"Oh no! I fell asleep!" Troy smiled, rubbed her back reassuringly, and then stole a kiss,

"It's okay, I wanted you to."

Gabriella frowned, "Are we almost there then?"

"Almost…though I am glad you chose to wake up now, I'll need help finding the streets to turn on." He withdrew his arm from around her, it was a little stiff, and put his hand on her thigh instead. She laced her fingers through his and held his hand in her lap, then turned her face to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"I bet you're really tired…"

"Nah" he said rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb.

* * *

"Troy are you sure you have the right address?" Gabriella eyed the houses on the street they turned on, "These beach houses are more like mansions…the ones I can see anyway…" Troy too looked apprehensive but responded confidently,

"Yeah, I'm sure…"

"Look there's 1512!" Gabriella exclaimed. Troy stopped in front of a gated driveway leading, presumably, to a house which they couldn't make out through the trees. Troy pulled in the driveway up to the gate and noticed a speaker with a button.

"Um…I guess I should…" Troy rolled down his window, leaned across the space between his truck and the speaker, and pressed the call button. After a few moments,

"Hey what's up?" A voice came through the speaker and Troy glanced back at Gabriella before sticking his head out the window and answering,

"Um…hey…Scott?"

"Yep, I'll buzz you in Troy, hold up."

"O…kay." Troy looked at Gabriella who shrugged. There was a clicking sound and then the gate opened inwards allowing Troy to pull his truck through. They drove down the long driveway lined with trees until they rounded a corner revealing the house to them: it was a modern-style glass house with a white stone frame.

"Whoa…" Troy said in shock, like Gabriella said: this was no "house" it was a mansion.

"Oh my…" Gabriella's voice trailed off as she searched for the right words, "This is so beautiful!" Troy pulled through the circle drive, where there was 2 cars already and parked behind them. In the center of the circle was a marble fountain and colorful flowers. "Troy…are you sure it's okay that I'm here…this is-"

"Gabriella I'm positive…though…" Troy removed his sunglasses to get a better look at the house.

"What?"

"This is certainly not what I was expecting…I didn't know Scott's family was…the guy drives a 2000 Pontiac Grand AM…hardly a luxury car…" Troy looked back to the cars parked in front of him, he thought one looked like his roommate Travis' car and the other Jake Jacksons', a junior small forward. "Well…shall we?" Troy said looking at Gabriella who nodded,

"I guess so." Troy opened his door and hopped out, putting his sunglasses back on. He grabbed their bags out of the bed of his truck and walked around to where Gabriella was on the other side. She was wearing a violet sundress with white embroidery under the bust line and along the bottom which came to her mid thigh.

"You look beautiful by the way." Troy said offering her his hand which she took. The door to the house opened and Scott stepped out,

"Hey Troy! Glad you guys could make it!" He walked until he met them halfway and shook Troy's hand.

"Yeah, we are too…Scott this is my girlfriend Gabriella. Gabriella, Scott Saracen." Scott extended his hand and Gabriella shook it.

"Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you."

"Likewise."

"Emily will be glad you're here…now she won't be stuck with all us guys by herself."

"Who's all here?" Troy asked.

"Uh…Jake, Schultz, Trav, Luke, and Day-Day."

"Who else you expecting?"

"Um…to tell the truth…I'm not sure."

"I guess you're not low on space huh?" Troy nodded towards the house and Scott laughed,

"Nah…I'm straight. 7 bedrooms: 3 with queens and pull out couches, 1 king, and the other 3 with multiple fulls. Plus a guesthouse." Troy whistled from high to low,

"Daaaamn Saracen! Your family owns this? I don't get it don't your parents live in Malibu?" Scott ran a hand through his hair and looked back at the house,

"Yeaaaah…this place is kind of a Saracen Family Cottage I guess…my grandpa thought it would be a good idea to have a place all the kids and grandkids could go to to hang out or something."

"Wow…so he got _this_? Who is your grandpa…Bill Gates?"

Sarace laughed, "Nah…he's a media lawyer…Yeah I dunno…big family I guess: 3 sons, 2 daughters, 8 grandsons and 6 granddaughters…gramps maaay have gone a little overboard though…" Scott said glancing back at the house again, "But it was fun growing up here every summer."

"Isn't your family using it?" Gabriella spoke up.

"They left last week."

"Oh…and you're sure you don't mind?" Gabriella asked and she felt Troy squeeze her hand.

"What? You kiddin'? It'll be a blast! You two ever sailed? Or surfed?" Troy and Gabriella shook their heads in response. "Oh man! You are missin' out! We are takin' the Hobie out after lunch, you two need to learn!"

"Alriiight! Cool man!We're in!" Troy said high-fiving Scott.

"So…come on in! Meet everyone and pick your room!" Scott turned around and headed back inside with Troy and Gabriella following. Gabriella glanced up at Troy who looked down and winked at her. Scott opened and held the door for the couple and they stepped into a bright entryway the color of white sand. Gabriella could see that the hallway in front of them led to a large open area and the back wall was adorned with giant shaped windows which overlooked the ocean.

"Wow…this is amazing!" Gabriella said in awe. Scott smiled and led the way down the hall,

"Okay so in here we have the kitchen, the dining area, and the family room." They walked into a large cathedral ceilinged room with a dark-stained wood floor and white area rugs. There was a glass fencing on the floors above, so those on upper floors could look down to the common area. To the left the kitchen had white countertops and stainless steel appliances and a breakfast bar with white stools that separated the kitchen from the family room. The family room had large, white, square sectional couches with bright blue pillows. There was also a ridiculously large flat screen HD TV on the wall and a white, wooden coffee table in the middle of the seating. Gabriella could see doors leading out onto a patio area which also sported a large pool.

"And through that door on the other side of the kitchen is the bathroom…and that doorway over there," Scott pointed to the opposite side of the family room, "will take you to the study, the rec room, and the gym."

"Gym?" Troy raised his eyebrows.

"Sorry bro…workout gym, not a hoop. But we do have a court out back…"

"Niiiice!" Troy smiled and Gabriella rolled her eyes: why was she not surprised that this weekend would probably end up being the boys playing ball most of the time.

"And if you'll follow me I'll show you the second and third floors which are the bedrooms and the in-house theater."

"The _what?_!" Gabriella nearly shouted. Scott laughed as he started up the large stone steps which cut into the wall to the right of the family room.

"Yeah…like I said…gramps may have overdone it." Troy and Gabriella followed Scott as he continued to explain, "So the rooms are a little strange…they are themed…"

"Themed?" Troy questioned.

"Yeah…you'll see, but Trav and Luke are in the California Room with two fulls, Jake, Schultz, and Day-Day are in the Brazilian Room with 3 fulls, me and Em are in the Master suite which is Bahamas themed, and so that leaves all the single queen rooms left: Caribbean, Greek, and Hawaii. Unless you want separate beds in the Palm Beach room…"

"No,no, we definitely want a single." Troy said perhaps a little too eagerly. Gabriella elbowed him in the ribs lightly, but smiled in spite of herself.

"Thought so." Scott said eyeing Troy and Gabriella's linked hands.

* * *

Troy put the bags down and immediately collapsed onto the white, fluffy, colossal bed. Gabriella stood in awe of the Greek themed room with its white walls and aqua blue décor, "Wow...This is..._Beautiful_!" Gabriella searched her head for a more appropriate word to capture what she saw, but none came to mind. Without looking at him Gabriella addressed a lounging Troy, "Troy isn't this just the most incredible room you have ever seen?"

"MmHmm." Gabriella touched the wall mural showing a mass of white stone houses overlooking the Aegean Sea, "Did you see this mural?" Gabriella's face was in awe, "I want to go to Greece someday... All the pictures I have ever seen show it as such a beautiful place..."

"Mmm."

Gabriella smiled as a thought came to her, "Troy we should go to Greece together...it would be so exciting!"

Troy sighed a response, but truthfully he was barely conscious, "Okay." Gabriella looked up to see the ceiling fan she knew must be the cause of the breeze she felt only to be stunned again, "TROY! OH MY GOD! Look at the ceiling!" The ceiling was painted an aqua blue to match the décor, but it also donned many of the Greek Gods and Goddesses. "Look! Apollo! Oo! And look: Hermes…Athena…Hyperion….oh and Zeus!...Eos…" She continued to name off the ones she recognized, "I THINK that's Phoebe…the woman over by Eos…hmmm….amazing" She smiled up at the stunning artwork and then turned to share her joy with Troy, but found him eyes closed and lazing on the bed. She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Troy...You didn't even look at the room did you?"

"Ummmm..." Troy peeked out from his eyelids and quickly scanned the room without really seeing it, "Yeah...you're right babe, amazing...I'm just testing the bed…" His tone was so monotone and sleepy Gabriella couldn't help but crack a smile at her exhausted boyfriend as she crossed the room to sit beside him on the bed,

"Tired?"

Troy sighed happily as she sat down and ran her fingers through his hair, "A little."

"You want to take a nap?" Troy took an arm out from behind his head and wrapped it around Gabriella's waist,

"Join me?" Gabriella sighed and began grazing her fingernails lightly over his chest,

"I should probably go meet everyone..."

"Naaaah." Troy's thumb traced patterns on her hip, "I'll introduce you later."

"Troy…that's really rude don't you think?" After all, she hadn't officially been invited like Troy had, she was Troy's guest. Gabriella hadn't met all of Troy's teammates, just Travis and Lucas…and now Scott. She had heard about most of them from Troy, but couldn't keep them straight. She knew that one of the seniors had a son though, she wondered if he was coming.

"You worry too much, they won't care." Troy said, eyes still closed.

"Yeah, but _I_ care…" Troy heaved a sigh in partial frustration, but gave no verbal response. Gabriella played with the hem of Troy's shirt as she spoke further, "You can sleep Troy…you need it. I'll just go hang out…meet Emily…and the guys…" Troy pursed his lips and opened his eyes. Sighing, he released his hold around Gabriella, got off the bed and strode across the room to the door.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella asked curiously as Troy reached for the handle and opened the door. Wordlessly he gestured towards the doorway indicating she was to follow. Gabriella eyed him questionably as she scooted off the bed and made her way to him. Troy answered the question in her eyes,

"If I stay in here I won't be getting a nap anytime soon, so…" He gestured towards the door again. Gabriella reached him but did not go through the door,

"What do you mean? Troy I said you cou-" Troy interrupted her,

"I know what you said…but I also know what you meant." When his assessment received a confused look he explained further, "Gabriella there is no way you want to go down there and meet the guys without me." Gabriella folded her arms and narrowed her eyes as she looked up at a smirking Troy,

"I'll have you know Mr. Bolton that I have been thrown into _schools_ of new people all my life and have managed just fine thank you!" Her feigned antagonism had Troy pursing his lips and nodding in agreement,

"Uh huh…I see. Well…" Troy went to leave the doorway and head back towards the bed, but Gabriella gasped and caught his hand,

"Wait! Where are you going?" Her previously annoyed face slipped into a frown with worry lines patterned across her features. Troy chuckled as he stopped in his tracks,

"Thought you didn't need me?" He edged. Gabriella pouted and stepped closer to him, giving him a pleading look with her eyes, a look she knew her boyfriend couldn't resist. Troy laughed through his nose, smiling, and then sighed,

"Allllllright….put away the puppy eyes…I'm coming…" Gabriella's face brightened up immediately and she went up on her toes to kiss Troy's cheek,

"You're the best boyfriend ever!" She smiled up at him and Troy glanced down at her out of the corner of his eye, unconvinced,

"Uh huh…" Their hands still linked, Troy led them to the door, but Gabriella held him back once more,

"You ARE Wildcat…." She turned him towards her, and releasing his hand she put both of hers around his neck and stretched up to kiss him on the lips. He leaned down to kiss her back and wound his arms around her petite waist. Breathing in through his nose he let his tongue graze her bottom lip and she eagerly gave him entrance to her heated mouth. Their tongues entwined and Troy's hands ran up and down her back as her fingers threaded themselves into his hair. Troy couldn't help himself: it had been far too long since they had been together and as much as he missed Gabriella for her company he couldn't deny his body ached for her physically as well. In one swift move Troy's hands came up under Gabriella's behind and hoisted her up on his waist. Gabriella giggled as she hooked her legs around him and Troy shifted his weight to kick the door close.

Gabriella pulled herself in closer and using Troy's shoulders as a brace she hoisted herself upwards so that she was slightly above Troy causing Troy's eyes to flutter shut. He groaned as he felt Gabriella's warm center against his stomach through the thin layers of fabric that were her underwear and his shirt. He opened his eyes and moaned at the sight of her mounded bosom. As he kissed the exposed skin of her breast his hands slide from her bottom down over her hips until he found the bare skin of her thigh. Gabriella gasped when his hands swiftly slid up under the fabric of her dress and his thumbs pressed against her throbbing center. Her surprise caused her to forget to hold herself up and now that Troy no longer was aiding her, her body fell downwards and back away from Troy's body who immediately switched his hands to be around her to try and keep her from falling. His efforts were to no avail however as he lost his balance at the sudden change in weight and the pair tumbled to the floor laughing. Troy caught himself and fell to the side of Gabriella, who immediately pounced on top of him and quickly leaned in to peck him on the lips once,

"I thought you told me once you would never let me fall…." She teased. Troy shook his head smiling,

"Well….first of all…that was when we were on that tree obstacle course challenge…not at all the same situation. And secondly…if _someone_" he started to tickle her and she immediately squirmed and squealed trying to get away, "hadn't of..." Gabriella yelped and laughed hysterically, but she managed to gasp out pleas between breaths,

"Troy!...Ohmygod!...Troy!...Stopstopstopstop!...Pleeeeeeeasssssse!" Troy stopped momentarily, allowing her to catch her breath,

"If _someone_ hadn't of _thrown_-!"

"Nuh uh I-!"

"Themselves backward then-"

"-You are such a liar!" She said sitting up and smacking his shoulder playfully.

Troy cocked an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?" He attacked her ticklish sides again with his fingers and she shrieked,

"Nononononononono!...I take it-…..I take it-…..back!" She screamed between laughing, breathing, and squirming. Troy stopped tickling her and Gabriella sighed in relief. Troy chuckled at her as she weakly crawled away from her attacker,

"Awww…I'm done I promise…" He said reaching after her foot which she pulled away.

"Uh huh…I've heard that before." She said looking back, smiling at him. Troy crawled after her and play-tackled her as he hugged her to his chest and rolled so that she laid on top of him, her legs between his. She could feel the hard ridge of his desire against her exposed thigh, and she started to feel her own knot winding ever tighter inside. He stuck his tongue out at her briefly,

"Gotcha."

She smiled and rolled her eyes, "I let you."

"Oh you did did you?" Troy said slowly as he strained his neck upwards.

"Mmhmm" She replied as she leaned downwards.

"Okay." He kissed her slowly at first, with love and care, and then gradually picked up his intensity as his hands gripped her face. Suddenly, and without warning, he rolled them over so he hovered above her and attacked her lips with his again, this time with much more urgency. He could feel his need for her rising as he felt the heat radiating in the space between their bodies. He groaned into their kisses and he felt her hands travel down his chest to the hem of his polo shirt, she snuck her hands under it and traced the panes of his stomach. This sent a shiver down his spine causing him to break away from the kiss but he immediately replaced his lips back on her neck. Her hands ran up and down his chest, leaving a trail of burning flesh beneath.


	7. Last Weekend of Summer P2

**AN:**

**I bet you all thought this story was gone forever! Well, truth be told, I wrote a little back then continuing the story and then got SUPER busy and completely forgot about it. UNTIL candycanes18ify left me a review and I got the notification in my email! SO everyone can thank her/him for bringing me back from obscurity! And I too say THANK YOU so much to candycanes.**

**To make up for it being...what? 3 years since my last post and leaving you all completely hanging (SO SO Sorry about that) I wrote an EXTRA long and EXTRA juicy chapter. It's almost 10,000 words! So I hope you enjoy! **

**-MJ**

* * *

Troy couldn't take it anymore and he sat up so that he was straddling her lap and promptly took off his shirt.

As soon as he leaned down to reclaim her lips with his own his pocket started buzzing and then released a ring.

"Damnit…." He knew that ring, it was his house calling, probably his mom. Gabriella knew the ring too, but secretly was glad for the interruption. Not that she didn't WANT to continue, but with Troy's phone ringing Gabriella was suddenly brought back to the reality that they were guests in a house full of Troy's teammates and "afternoon delight" wasn't exactly appropriate.

The thought of his mom on the phone killed much of Troy's arousal, nothing like thinking about your mother to kill the mood. Troy closed his eyes and sighed as he rolled off Gabriella to sit beside her and dig in his pocket for the noisy intruder.

"Hello?" Troy gave Gabriella an apologetic look and Gabriella returned a small smile of understanding as she too sat up.

"Oh good! I caught you!" It was his mom and the sound of her voice further removed him from the sexual desires which had consumed him not moments ago, "I feel like I haven't spoken to you in so long Troy, how are you honey?"

"Hey mama…" Troy watched as Gabriella got up and went into the bathroom, which meant they would not be continuing their fun after his conversation. _CRAP._ "I'm doing good, workin' hard with basketball…class on Monday. How are you and dad?"

"Oh, we're well…just missing you!"

"I miss you guys too, mom." In truth Troy did feel a little guilty since he hadn't really called his parents all that much since moving to California. Come to think of it, he hadn't spoken to hardly anyone from back home including his best friend Chad. He had been so busy with basketball things that during all his free time he was sleeping, hanging out with his team, with Gabriella, or talking on the phone to Gabriella.

"You sound tired sweetie…" Troy heard the worry seep into his mother's voice.

"Yeah, a little I guess."

"Well Troy, you need to keep well rested honey or you'll get sick. Have you been taking your vitamins?"

Troy sighed, she was in full mom mode now. "Yeah….Mom don't worry, I'm fine. I just was up early this morning that's all."

"Did you have an early practice?"

"No, I drove to Gabriella's last night and then this morning we drove to Santa Cruz. Scott invited the team to his family beach house here this weekend since we don't have practice. Gabriella and I just got here a little bit ago."

"Oooh! How nice of Scott to invite you guys!"

"Yeah." Troy laid back on the plush carpet with one arm behind his head.

"That'll be a lot of fun! Is Gabriella there with you?"

"Uh yeah, yeah she is…" Troy glanced towards the bathroom door where he heard the faucet running, "She is freshening up in the bathroom."

"Well I'm sure you two will have a good time…and will be _responsible_." Troy didn't miss his mom's warning. Troy talks to his parents about most things in his life, but his sex life wasn't one of them. While he had never mentioned that he and Gabriella were sleeping together he figured his parents might have guessed, or at least gathered they were headed in that direction.

"Of course mom."

"Oh! Have you gone to visit your aunt and uncle yet?" Troy made a guilty face his mom couldn't see. His dad's younger brother had moved to California near Berkley and had met his wife, Samantha; together they had Troy's younger cousins: Emma and Ross.

"Uhh…I've been really busy…" Troy knew this excuse was a weak one, especially when his mom knew full well that he had spent many weekends with Gabriella.

"Troy Michael Bolton! Your uncle Andrew was so excited when you went to California that he might get to see you more…especially your cousins!"

Feeling the full force of his mother's scolding even a thousand miles away Troy immediately went into apology mode, "I know mom…I'm really sorry…there's just a lot going on and a lot to get used to here being on my own without you," he knew this comment would hit her soft spot, "and I guess I just forgot…sorry mama." He heard his mother sigh on the other end of the line,

"I know it's been tough for you sweetie…please just promise me you will try to go visit them for a day in the near future…for dinner or something…"

"I promise." Troy smiled when he realized he was no longer in trouble.

"You better" She answered with feigned sternness, "Anyway, I know you are kind of busy right now with your friends so I won't keep you, but I did call to ask you about basketball tickets."

"Oooohhhh…yeah…I forgot to ask about that…" Troy admitted slowly.

"Troy…" her tone was reprimanding

"Sorry…" Troy yet again felt guilty, he had told his parents he would ask about how many tickets he is allotted each game for family and friends and he hadn't. "Well…" he continued, "I am pretty sure we get 3, and then I could probably use other guys' on the team if they aren't using theirs and I needed more…but I am not positive on that."

His mother sighed on the other end of the line, meanwhile Gabriella came out of the bathroom looking, to Troy's disappointment, refreshed and completely un-ravished. She smiled at Troy, and then strode over to the bed and sat cross legged upon it. "Alright…well can you ask Scott or someone else when you get the chance and get back to me as soon as possible?"

"Yeah, I can do that…no problem. Sorry I forgot."

"Uh huh…" Troy could almost see his mother rolling her eyes at his forgetfulness. "Okay, well I guess have fun this weekend and get that information about the tickets to me SOON okay?"

"Okay I will."

"Be safe."

"I will mom."

"Make sure you take your vitamins." Troy chuckled to himself at his mother's worry,

"I will."

"And if you go out on the water wear a life-"

"-Mom."

"Sorry sweetie. Okay well I miss you honey, have a good time."

"I miss you too mama, love you."

"Love you too Troy. Say 'Hi' to Gabriella from me. Bye honey."

"Okay I will, Bye." Troy hung up the phone and took in a deep breath, held it for a second and then let it out. He craned his neck to look up at Gabriella on the bed who stared back down at him,

"How's your mom?"

"She's good, she says 'Hi.'"

"That's good, she and your dad coming for your first game?"

"Not sure, I think they want to though." Troy sighed as he stood up, picked up his shirt and slipped it back over his head. Then he sat beside Gabriella on the bed before falling backwards and closing his eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Gabriella poked his side. Troy opened his eyes and glanced up at her,

"What?"

"You said you were going to introduce me to your teammates…" She gave him her shy eyes triggering Troy to let out an exasperated groan,

"You took the last bit of energy of my second wind when you decided to fall-"

"Hey!" Gabriella playfully smacked his shoulder, "Stop makin stuff up."

Troy raised an eyebrow at her, "Who's makin' stuff up?"

Gabriella glared at him, and upon receiving "the look" Troy backpedaled, "Okay, okay…sorry." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. Troy reached for her hand on her lap, he really wished he could just fall asleep right now holding his girl. He fiddled with her fingers while mulling over his decision. Of course he knew what he would do: he would be the good boyfriend and accompany Gabriella downstairs to introduce her, but he wanted to pretend he had the choice to stay and take a nap because that's what his body wanted him to do. Gabriella took the hand he was holding and caressed his face with it, inviting his face to look back up at her,

"Babe if you're really that tired…"

Troy smiled at her and made an attempt to perk up, "Me? Tired? Nah…I'm like the energizer bunny."

"Uh huh." Gabriella saw through his façade. Troy sat up and reclaimed her hand from his face and kissed her palm,

"I'm good. Third wind I guess."

Gabriella eyed him, letting him know she wasn't falling for it.

Troy laughed and pulled her head in towards him so he could kiss her forehead, "Come on, introductions await!" He slid off the bed and offered his hand to her, beckoning her to come along. She took his invitation even though she felt bad making him come with her.

By the time Troy and Gabriella made it back downstairs several more people had shown up and some of the guys were already outside in the pool. When the couple appeared hand in hand at the foot of the stairs Lucas noticed them and came over to greet them.

"Hey bro, glad you decided to come." He slapped hands with Troy and then nodded towards Gabriella, "Gabs…good to see you again…Thanks for LETTING him come." He indicated towards Troy with his thumb.

Gabriella smiled, "Yeah…I didn't have the heart to not let him have his play time." She turned her face up towards Troy and nudged his side.

"Thanks a lot mom." Troy teased back. "Who is all here?" He asked Lucas.

"Uhhh..well Scott and Em of course. Jake, K, Day-Day, me, and Trav all got here before you. Then Nate and Drew got here about 10 minutes ago. And apparently Sam called and he is on his way with-"

"Yo Bolton!" A voice interrupted and Troy and Gabriella looked away to see who called. Gabriella saw a tall, muscular guy with dark skin dressed in a bathing suit bounding towards them. She quickly tried to discern which one of Troy's teammates this could be, but her efforts amounted to nothing. Troy smiled and put his hand out for his teammate to slap, "Day-Day! What's goin' on man?"

"It's good, it's good. Maaaan would you check this place _out_?!"

"Right?! Geez…"

"Scotty be holdin' out on us!" He laughed and then noticed Gabriella standing next to Troy. Troy shifted his attention and put his arm around Gabriella's waist,

"As you probably guessed: this is Gabriella. Gabriella Montez meet Drake Tucker. He is a junior forward on the team."

"Pleasure." Drake extended his massive hand to Gabriella and her hand disappeared in his as she shook it,

"Mine too."

"You can call me Drake or the guys call me Day-Day if you like." Gabriella smiled up at him, he was so much taller than Troy, but not as tall as Lucas. He seemed nice, she tried to recall what she had heard from Troy about "Day-Day" or "Drake" and she seemed to remember him saying that he was fun to hang out with because he was always in a good mood. She didn't feel comfortable using the team's nickname for him though.

"Where are you from Drake?"

"Yo Troy, y'all want something to drink?" Scott called from the kitchen. Troy looked over to Scott and then back to Gabriella,

"Want anything?"

"What are you getting?"

"Not sure…"

"Just pick something, you know what I like."

"Okay." Troy squeezed her to his side and whispered in her ear, "You okay here?" She nodded and Troy kissed her temple before walking away to the kitchen. Gabriella watched him go and then turned back to Drake who smiled before answering her question,

"Denver."

"Oh I lived there for a little while!"

"Really? Huh…"

Troy approached Scott in the kitchen who gave him the choices, "Basically we got everything: coke products, water, milk, coffee, orange juice, grape juice, cranberry juice…as for alcohol…if you _want_ to start drinkin' this early…we got beer, pretty much anything you need for mixed drinks, and upon the request of Emily we also have wine coolers." Troy was surprised at the huge selection, and immediately eliminated the alcohol for both him and Gabriella: they both weren't big drinkers and it was much too early.

"Wow…uhhh…" He thought for a moment and decided he needed caffeine, "I'll take a coke and give me a…." He almost said grape juice, but he thought Gabriella would want something in a bottle instead of a cup, "water for the lady." Scott handed him the drinks and as Troy said thanks and was about to leave Scott stopped him,

"By the way…any drinking is going to have to be in moderation because…I don't know if anyone told you but Sam is coming and he is bringing-" Suddenly there was a loud roar of cheers and the two guys looked to the doorway to see Sam and a little boy walk in. Scott smiled and walked to greet them,

"Heeeeey, who let you riff-raff in here?" He rubbed the little boy's head.

"Jake buzzed us in and said to come on in." Sam answered.

"Glad you guys could make it." He turned to the boy and greeted him in a low voice, " !" Troy went back to Gabriella's side and handed her the water,

"That's Sam and Michael…Remember I told you one of the seniors had a kid? He's 5." Gabriella watched as the other players came in and greeted the small boy with light-brown skin, dark hair, and his father's blue eyes. They all seemed so taken with him and the little boy smiled wide as he high fived the giants.

"Yeah I remember."

"Come on…I'll introduce you." He took her hand and led her over to the crowd that had surrounded the new comers.

"Yo guys…guys!" He got the attention of everyone and then continued, "This is as you would guess, my girlfriend Gabriella. Gabriella this is Nathan Dean," he pointed to a guy taller than him with dark brown hair and cocoa skin who nodded his head in recognition, "Drew Cousins," the guy to Nathan's left was the tallest person Gabriella had ever seen: even taller than Lucas! He had a short buzz cut, tanned-skin and was much more muscular than Luke, "Then that's Kalin Schultz," to the left of Drew was a skinny, dark-skinned guy about the same height as Troy. Gabriella thought he looked like he was fast and recalled Troy saying that his main competition for point guard was against this guy. "You know Luke and Travis," Gabriella smiled at the 2nd tallest white guy in the room and his chocolate-skinned roommate, "Then there's Jake Jackson," the brown haired guy about the same height as Drake extended his hand to Gabriella and she smiled at him as she shook it, "Then you met Day-Day and Scott already…oh and your only female companion for the weekend: Scott's girlfriend Emily Summers…" Emily smiled at Gabriella,

"_Thank you_ for coming Gabriella…I don't think I could handle all these boys by myself." She laughed, the guys smirked and Gabriella giggled in response,

"No problem."

"Then this is Sam Jenson" he indicated the blonde man standing next to the child, "…and the _coolest_ person here: Sam's son Michael." Troy extended his fist to Michael who pounded it with his own, "How ya doin little man? Beatin' your daddy at hoops yet?" Michael smiled and looked from Troy up to his dad, who put a hand on his shoulder. Michael looked back to Troy and the rest of the crowd,

"Yup! Whooped his butt!" Everyone laughed. Troy mussed Michael's hair. Troy was really taken with the 5-year-old, he had always gotten along well with kids, probably because he acted somewhat like a big kid himself at times.

"Alright all star how about you try and beat me this weekend huh?"

"Easy!" Michael declared and everyone snickered.

"Better watch it Bolton, this kid's gonna take your spot son!" Nathan shouted and everyone laughed.

"You wanna be a ball playa like your daddy little man?" Day-Day asked him. Michael nodded, "Yeah! AND a singer like mama!"

"Uh-oh…watch out y'all he's a double threat!" Jake declared and everyone laughed again. The players started to disperse and the boy looked up at his dad, "Daddy?"

"Yes, Michael?"

"I'm hungry."

"Well maybe you could ask Scott if you could have a snack…"

Michael smiled, "Can I?"

"Yes you may…" Michael ran off after Scott, "NICELY!" Sam added. He glanced back at his dad and smiled.

"He's grown since I saw him last." Troy said watching Michael tug on the bottom of Scott's shirt to get his attention.

"Yeah…he's sproutin' up…"

"Glad you guys could come, he will have a lot of fun hangin with the guys this weekend." Troy said. Gabriella looked over at the boy again, who now was the proud owner of a Chewy Granola Bar.

"Yeah…too bad his mom is coming to get him tonight."

"Whaaaat? Why?" Troy's face fell in disappointment.

"I dunno man, she didn't want him to come at all but Michael begged her."

Gabriella smiled as she watched him say something to Scott before running back towards them only to be intercepted by Nathan sweeping him off his feet into the air. The boy laughed and screamed. Sam and Troy both diverted their attention to Michael before turning back to the conversation.

"I don't get it…Brittany knows how much we love Michael…"

"Bro…I don't attempt to understand that girl…" He glanced over again at a giggling Michael who was now dangling upside down, held from the ankles by Nathan.

"Yo Nate…don't let all the blood rush to his head man." Sam side-stepped Troy and Gabriella as he approached Nathan and Michael. Troy and Gabriella watched as Sam grabbed both Michael's hands and swung him back up onto his feet as Nate let go. Michael continued to giggle and then begged for more, "DO IT AGAIN!"

"He is so adorable!" Gabriella remarked.

Troy chuckled, "He's the coolest kid ever." Troy clutched Gabriella's hand and guided her over to the couches. He sat down and pulled her down next to him putting his arm around her. He took a long swig out of his coke and then leaned back and sighed.

"Beat?"

"Nah…just relaxin with my girl." He winked at her and smiled.

"Gabriella you get on the tramp and Troy and I will push the boat out." Scott instructed from the water, holding onto the sailboat as the small waves crashed into it.

"Okay…" Gabriella entered the water and treaded over beside the boat, the water up to her knees. She wasn't exactly sure how to get on…the boat came up to her ribs. Troy was helping Scott hold the boat and watched as Gabriella put her hands on the edge of the tramp to hoist herself up, as she put weight on it however the boat tipped towards her and she let go.

"Here babe…" Troy made his way over to her through the water, "Try again" Gabriella again put her hands up on the tramp and this time when she hoisted herself up Troy lifted her up onto the tramp.

"Thank you." She smiled at him and he smiled back, "My pleasure madam."

"Okay Troy let's take her out a little ways then you hop on k?"

"Sounds good." After they took the boat out to the point that the water was up to the boys' waist Scott told Troy to get on and Troy effortlessly hoisted himself up. Scott followed suit and joined the couple on the tramp of the sailboat. The wind whipped through their hair as Scott bellowed out instruction, "Okay Troy, Gabriella come over on this side of the tramp" he said as he used the ropes to adjust the sails and used a long pole to put the rudders down and steer. "Now, this is the…?" he said looking at Troy and Gabriella and pointing to the smaller sail of the two. "Jib." Troy answered, "And that's the main sail." He continued pointing to the giant blue sail.

"Right." Scott sailed the way out, past the wave breaks, and turned the boat into the wind so they would keep relatively still. "Okay…now…we're going to put one of you on the trapeze." The couple, sitting there holding hands, looked at one another. Scott explained further, "This" he held up a harness and pointed to a wire line, "will take you out on the side of the boat so you can lean out over the water."

"Awesome!" Troy exclaimed.

"We have to be going fast enough before you lean out though so whoever goes out make sure you listen for my okay. So who's going first?" Troy was bursting with excitement to try it but he looked at Gabriella,

"You can go first if you want babe." Gabriella smiled at him in appreciation of his courtesy, "Troy don't be silly...of course you are going first! Besides…I want to see it first…" She eyed the contraption nervously. Troy laughed and kissed Gabriella on the cheek. "Alright, what do I gotta do captain?"

Scott handed him the harness, "Put this on." Troy took the harness and stood up to put it on, but the boat rocked and he immediately lost his balance. He laughed, "Whoops!...I guess I better try to do this sitting down…" He put his legs into the holes and pulled up the harness lifting his hips to get it up around his waist. He fastened and then tightened the straps before tugging on the bottom of his swimming trunks to try and put them right after they had been snagged upwards by the harness.

"Okay…I'm going to get her goin' and when I say, you are going to attach this buckle here, " he pointed to the metal hook and plastic piece on the harness, "to this." He grabbed the end of the wire line which had a metal oval piece attached to it and then demonstrated how it went together. "And then you are going to slowly stand up on this side of the boat, put your feet on this edge piece of the tramp, and then slowly lean backwards out over the water. Now…you'll have to pay attention to this front pontoon...if it starts to go under water shift your feet and your weight towards the back of the boat and if it is coming way out of the water shift yourself forward. Got it?" Troy gave an apprehensive stare for a moment before smiling,

"Yeah I think so…"

"You'll be fine…it's not as hard it seems." Scott smiled, "Alright, here we go." He turned the boat so the wind would catch the sails and they gained momentum. Once they had a good speed going he motioned for Troy to get hooked up on the line.

"Alright Troy…ease on out!" He yelled over the wind. Troy slowly leaned backwards with his feet anchoring him to the boat. He smiled broadly as they picked up speed and he leaned farther out so he could be parallel with the water. He half laughed as he caught, out of the corner of his eyes, the blue water rushing past his face below him. He spread his arms wide, "WOOOOOO! YEAH!" He exclaimed, "This is AMAZING!" Gabriella watched him in awe and smiled.

"Whew! That's an ab work out!" Troy said patting his stomach as he unattached himself from the harness. They were at a standstill again and Troy and Gabriella were switching.

"Alright Gabriella, do you need me to explain it to you again?" Scott asked.

"Umm.." Gabriella looked apprehensively at the harness Troy was taking off, "I don't think-"

Troy cut her off, "Oh no no no no….Gabriella you are DOING this! It's wild!"

"I dunno Troy…it looks kind of…daunting…" She said glancing at the side of the boat where Troy had been dangling out. Troy handed her the harness,

"Baby…you'll be fine…I promise…you'll have a blast." He coaxed gently and smiled. She sighed and took the harness from him, "Okay…"

"That's my girl." Troy smiled.

Once they were up to speed Troy helped Gabriella attach the line and on Scott's instruction Gabriella slowly, very slowly, leaned backwards over the water. She was barely 45 degrees when she got scared, bent her knees and pulled herself back in.

"Troy…I feel like I'm going to fall!"

"That's part of the rush babe! Don't worry! Go on…take a deep breath and try again." Gabriella did as she was told and eased her way back out. Unlike Troy she held onto the wire line, she got out past 45 degrees and glanced down at the buckle. She noticed in horror the metal piece had slipped from the hook on her harness, it was now attached to the small plastic piece which is designed to merely hold the line in place. Everything moved in slow motion: Gabriella knew this plastic piece would break so she bent her knees and began to pull herself back in. She called out for Troy in fear, "TROY!—" But she had hardly moved and barely got out her plea before the plastic piece gave way sending her into the ocean.

Troy watched as his girlfriend disappeared from the side of the boat and plunged into the water, "GABRIELLA!" He exclaimed in panic. The sudden loss of weight made the boat start to lean over, pulling one pontoon completely out of the water.

"Hooooly shit!" Scott yelled as he let the rope lines loose and turned into the wind, desperately trying to keep the boat from capsizing. "TROY! Move, move, move!" Troy, who had been watching back at where Gabriella was in the water, suddenly realized they were flipping over and jumped on the side of the boat that was out of the water. In what seemed like minutes, but was mere seconds, they had righted the boat.

"Whew." Scott said as Troy screamed out for Gabriella, "Gabriella!" He could just barely see her floating in the distance. He started to panic: what if she was hurt? His heart dropped in his chest at that thought, "Gabriella! Are you okay?!"

"Troy, she has a life vest, I am sure she is okay. Just help me situate the lines and we will get the boat turned around so we can go get her okay?" Troy sprang into action helping Scott and in no time they were headed back to pick up a drifting Gabriella. As they neared her Troy called out to her again, worry thick on his voice, "Baby are you okay?" Gabriella nodded, coughing. Scott pulled up along side her.

"Baby give me your hands." Troy reached down for her and pulled her up into his arms. He hugged her to him, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Troy was still kind of panicky. Gabriella shook her head, still coughing, "No…I just…swallowed…a lot of…salt water." She managed to communicate between coughs. Troy held her tightly, or as tightly as he could between their two life vests, and sighed in relief.

"Well hold on okay, we'll get you back to the house in no time alright honey?" She nodded.

"Gabriella what happened? Do you know?" Scott questioned her now that her coughing had subsided somewhat. Gabriella nodded, "Yeah…I looked down at my harness right before…" she coughed a few times and Troy rubbed her back, "before I fell in and this, " she pulled away from Troy and showed the broken plastic piece on her harness, "was connected to the wire." Scott's mouth fell open as he nodded in recognition,

"Ohhh….man….I bet it got un-hooked somehow when you pulled yourself in the first time. Dang…I'm really sorry Gabriella…"

"It's okay…it's not your fault." Gabriella smiled at him and then coughed, "But…I would like to get back to-"

"Oh! Of course!" Scott sprang into action setting them on their way. As they picked up speed the intense wind caused Gabriella to start shivering. Troy held her as tight as he could and ran his hands up and down her arms creating friction, "Almost there babe!" He shouted over the wind. He wished he could do more, he was tempted to take off their life jackets so he could use his body heat to warm her. They finally reached the shore, Troy and Scott hopped off to pull the boat to the beach. Once on dry land Troy lifted Gabriella from the boat and took off her life jacket as Scott ran to the pile of towels they had on the beach. He gave one to Troy who wrapped it around a still-shivering Gabriella, rubbing her back and arms.

"Are you sure you're okay babe?" Troy asked as he took off his own life vest. Gabriella nodded as Troy cocooned her in his arms trying to warm her up.

"Let's get you into some dry clothes." Troy suggested after Gabriella stopped shivering. He opened up her towel so he could take off the harness. His fingers fiddled with the straps below her abdomen.

"Dang!" He said in frustration. He bent down to get a better look at it and tried to detach the strap again, he pulled with all his strength but it didn't budge. "Damnit, it's stuck or somethin…"

Scott walked over to them from the boat, "Here, let me see." He knelt down in front of Gabriella and tugged on the strap to no avail. "Alright…" He said as he began to better position his hand for more leverage, but hesitated, "Umm…hey Troy…why don't…" he cleared his throat, "can you hold this part of the harness for me while I tug on the strap?" He pointed to the seam that kept giving away when they tugged. Troy immediately knew why Scott asked for his help and was very appreciative that Scott didn't do it himself. Troy applied pressure to the seam located dangerously close to an area in which no man besides Troy should be touching and this time when Scott tugged the strap pulled free.

"Whew! You're free! I haven't ever had that happen, maybe this thing has seen better days…" Scott said after Gabriella stepped out of the harness and he picked it up.

"Thanks a lot Scott. Let's get you dry." Troy said as he put an arm around Gabriella and led her to the stairs to take them back up to the house, but then stopped in his tracks, "Saracen are you okay here by yourself?" He motioned towards the boat with his head.

"Yeah man, fine, get that girl in the house." Troy didn't argue and continued to lead Gabriella back to the house.

"I'm so sorry baby…" Troy said once they got into their room and past everyone downstairs.

"Troy it's not your fault…"

"I know…" Troy got her bag for her and she dropped the towel she had around her shoulders. Her blue string bikini was nearly dry, but she wanted to change anyway. She bent over to open her bag and grabbed her head in pain, "Ow!"

"Gabriella?!" Troy put his hand on her shoulder and inquired further, "What's wrong?"

Gabriella winced a little and then sat down on the floor next to her bag, Troy kneeled down beside her, his hands on her shoulders. "I think I must have hit my head somehow when I fell into the water…maybe just the impact of hitting the water and the rush of water going past my head…I dunno…"

"Maybe we should take you to see a doctor…." Troy's voice revealed his concern.

"No…no…it's just a headache…I'm fine Troy." She looked up at him and he gave her a look of extreme apprehension. "Troy…I promise…I'll just take an aspirin and I'll be fine."

Troy sighed, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Okay…" Troy kissed her forehead gently and she smiled at him.

"I love you." She told him.

"I love you more." He replied and kissed her tenderly on the lips, "Now I'll go get you some aspirin and you get changed."

"K." She replied as she took out a tank top, shorts, and under garments. Troy made to leave but as he put his hand on the doorknob Gabriella stopped him, "Oh wait!"

"Yeah?" Troy turned around.

"I need your help."

Troy strode back over to her, "What ya need babe?"

"The clasp," she turned her back to him, "it takes me forever to get it undone…could you real quick?"

Troy cleared his throat as he looked at the clasp on the back of her bathing suit top, "Yeah, sure." He forced himself not to think about his girlfriend's perfect supple breasts as he undid the clasp. He felt terrible: Gabriella was in pain and his horny mind kept diverting back to her body. Girls never would understand how much guys think about sex Troy thought, especially when having been away from it for so long. He obviously was not going to act on his impulses, and the foremost concern in his mind of course was Gabriella, but he couldn't control how much his body wanted her. Gabriella let the top hang from her neck as she turned around, Troy groaned inside as he noticed the suit now did not properly cover her front. He averted his eyes immediately.

"Thank you."

"No problem." Troy focused very intently on her eyes; she gave him a quizzical look but took a step towards him into his personal space. She turned her face up towards his for a kiss; he obliged but did not dare touch her body with his hands. She smiled up at him, completely unaware of how uncomfortable this simple situation was for him.

"Aspirin." He said and turned to leave. "Be back in a jiff." He exited the door quickly, but carefully so he didn't open the door anymore than necessary.

When Troy returned with the aspirin and opened the door to their bedroom he found his girlfriend curled up in the middle of the bed, sleeping, wearing one of his shirts. He smiled at her adorableness before walking to the side of the bed and putting down the bottle of water and pills. He started to put his weight on the bed before he had a thought, he paused and then walked across the room to the closet and quietly opened the door. He found a blanket on the top shelf and draped it over Gabriella's still form. He carefully crawled in the bed beside her, curling up next to her and draping his arm around her. Troy smiled contently as he too drifted off to sleep.

That's how the pair woke up, a few hours later, with Gabriella stirring beneath a deep-in-sleep Troy. She craned her neck to see Troy, but couldn't, so she decided to very slowly, and very carefully try to slide out from under him. She was almost home free when Troy groaned and then almost unintelligibly whispered,

"Feeling better babe?" His hand ran up and down her side soothingly.

Gabriella nodded, but then realized he wouldn't have seen it with his eyes closed, "Yeah, much."

Troy sighed and scooted closer to her, closing any gap Gabriella had previously made,

"Good." He nuzzled into her before placing a kiss at the nape of her neck, he'd missed this: just cuddling with his girl, feeling her in his arms. Gabriella smiled before speaking up again,

"We should get up…we could sleep the day away in here." Troy's arm tensed around her,

"And that's a bad thing why?"

"We're only here for the weekend."

"You're injured," Troy tried.

"I'm fine," Gabriella rolled her eyes at his lame attempt.

"I miss you," He tried again.

"We'll be together here, or down there."

"I love you."

This made her smile, he was TOO adorable, "I love you more…but-"

"No 'buts'!" Troy's suddenly full, non-whispering, non-sleepy voice startled her and she sat up quickly, disturbing Troy who groaned,

"Whhhhyyyy"

"Well you scared me!" She lightly pushed his bare shoulder causing him to fall from his side onto his back. Troy sighed in response, and Gabriella leaned over him and kissed his lips, which elicited a smile and moan from the boy. She moved the blonde-ish brown hair away from his eyes and forehead, beckoning him to open his bright blue eyes, but he did not oblige. Instead his hand found his way to the back of her head and pulled her to him for another kiss, this one much longer and deeper than the first. As Troy's lips lingered on hers she felt his other hand wander up her thigh, over her underwear, and then underneath the old t-shirt of his that she was wearing. His hand found the bare skin of her lower back and pulled her so she was on top of him, never breaking the kiss. His touches charged Gabriella's skin, she moaned in pleasure as his hand found its way to her bottom and gripped it, straining her closer. Their lips finally broke apart and Troy rested his forehead against hers as he not-so-subtlety grinded his hips upwards into hers, his intentions couldn't be misconstrued. He finally opened his eyes and stared down into her brown ones, his hurried breath hot upon her skin as his hands ran from her bottom up under the shirt tracing patterns on her bare back, and he let out a steadying breath as he discovered Gabriella was already wearing no bra.

Without warning, Gabriella was whipped around, Troy had flipped their positions so that he was on top and he wasted no time in connecting his hand to her bare breast as his mouth attacked hers. She moaned, and without asking for permission Troy's tongue was inside her mouth – his need for her was too strong. All the "almost" moments leading up to his one had made him so horny for her that it was painful. As his tongue penetrated deep into her mouth she ran her hands up and down his bare chest, and realized for the first time he was still in his swim suit. As her hands teased lower a shiver ran up Troy's spine and he shuddered, breaking away from the kiss,

"Ffffffuuuck," he groaned, barely holding it together. Gabriella smiled at her affect on him, and before she could elicit more teasing upon him he evaded her touch and attached his lips to her abdomen. He made fast kisses up the smooth skin her stomach, inching the shirt up as he went, and when he exposed her breasts his eyes closed for a moment, his breathing heavy with want. He hungrily devoured her hardened nipple with his mouth as he hastily and without care ripped the t-shirt over her head so that she now lay before him only in her panties. He sat up for a moment, taking in her body and groaned as once again his hand roughly cupped her breast and his tongue traced around the nipple of her other. Gabriella's hands found their way to his hair, holding him to her chest as she bit her lip, relishing in the pleasure he was giving her. Troy's lips worked their way up her neck, taking no care as they usually did. He roughly sucked and bit in all her sweet spots – her skin burned with desire so much that she didn't care about the hickeys and marks he undoubtedly was leaving. She knew his desire, and if she was honest, she LOVED when Troy was this way: rough and taken over with his need for her.

Finally his lips found his way back to hers and as she once again opened her mouth to his she felt his hardened sex grind into hers and his hand clench down hard on her breast. Her breath caught as she tore her mouth away from Troy's. He was now breathing heavily as he continued his rhythmic gyrating into her, exhaling a partial moan each time he thrust. She couldn't wait any longer: she needed him in her now. Her hands wasted no time in undoing the strings and velcro of his swimming trunks and as soon as Troy's brain came-to long enough to realize her actions he quickly assisted her in taking his trunks all the way off, exposing his large and throbbing penis. He hissed as her hand clasped around it,

"Ahhhh…babe-" Before he could finish Gabriella knew exactly what he was going to say: any more teasing and he wasn't going to make it inside of her. Gabriella hastily, and perhaps even clumsily scooted so that his head was right at her entrance, her legs wrapped around his hips – she suddenly realized she was still wearing her panties…this never happens, she is always naked before Troy. In a matter of seconds, and without skipping a beat, Gabriella made an executive decision: she reached between them and moved the piece of underwear covering her entrance aside and as she did she bucked her hips and pulled his so that in one movement both of them moaned as his pulsating sex slide all the way into hers. Troy groaned: feeling her wetness and insides around him with no condom felt AMAZING. They usually wore a condom as extra precaution even though Gabriella was on birth control, but he couldn't deny how absolutely fantastic it felt without it. He could feel everything, as he pulled out he glanced down to see his bare penis coated, and glistening with her juices,

"Fuck." He moaned, before looking back up at Gabriella whose eyes were closed in her own ecstasy. She too was feeling every single inch and every little ridge of his penis massage her insides as he slowly thrust it back in until towards the end his hips quickly bucked forward of their own accord: his control already slipping. It didn't matter, they both knew what this was – she hadn't even taken off her underwear – it was hungry sex, it was complete desire, it was not meant to drag out. Troy groaned with each push as he began to quickly thrust in and out of her, picking up the pace as he went. Each thrust was harder than the last, straining himself closer and deeper into her.

"Wait!" Gabriella's voice called out into the heated breathy silence surprising Troy,

"What? Did I hurt you?" he managed to say quickly between breaths as sweat glistened on his muscles - he was fighting for control as his length positively THROBBED inside her, no longer thrusting.

"No! It feels…waaaay too good." Gabriella answered. Troy let out a frustrated breath and his face wore a pained expression,

"Baby, you're KILLING me right now!"

"Sorry, but…when you were getting SO deep…I just want you to pause there for a minute." Troy shook his head, did she not realize how INCREDIBLY difficult that was for him? _I bet it DOES feel good for her, _he thought, _but my whole dick is literally going to explode if I do that._

"Gabs…" Troy started

"Just try…it'll feel amazing I promise."

_That's kind of the problem_, he thought. But he sighed and slowly pushed further into her, trying VERY hard not to think about how her walls were pulsating against him. When he was completely inside her he strained further, arching his hips into hers, and by the grace of God…held it there. Closing his eyes, fighting for control, _Don't think about how good she feels, or how right now she is circling her hips and her walls are rubbing against your – she's going to kill me, she really is trying to kill me right now! What happened to the urgency! GOD! _He opened his eyes and was going to complain, but he saw his girlfriend lying there, eyes closed, and biting her lip in the most unbelievably sexy—

He couldn't hold it, he started thrusting with such an urgency and let out a moan as he quickened his pace. Then it happened: Gabriella moaned out a high-pitched sound and her insides latched onto his, her juices flooded creating even more wetness and warmth around him, and Troy's breath quickened as he had a release of his own: shooting his own liquid deep into her as his whole body started to shiver and convulse from the magnitude of his orgasm. His head fell next to hers, his sweaty hair tickling her cheek as he continued to thrust in and out very weakly – riding out his high and quietly moaning/quivering with each subsidiary release of juice from his sex. Both of them gasped for air now, chests heaving, her hands ran up and down his back before running through his damp hair. They lay there, still connected for another minute before Troy broke the silence,

"Holy shit," he let out as his breath slowed. Sex with Gabriella was always great, but THIS time…this time was ridiculous. Maybe it was the anticipation, or not wearing a condom, or something else, but this time he thought maybe his whole insides exploded and not just below the belt.

"Mmmmm." Gabriella agreed as she turned her head and kissed his ear. She also secretly relished in having him still in her, she didn't know what it was exactly but she loved when their bodies were connected in this way: a part of him literally inside of her. No longer thrusting, or reaching for the climax, just resting with one another joined by their love and their most intimate parts. She was a little embarrassed to admit just how much she loved laying there with his penis extending into her through her entrance. Troy's voice broke through her thoughts,

"Damn I missed you."

"I missed you more," she said as she again ran her hands down his back, which made him shudder.

"Not possible." He weakly kissed her neck, once, twice, three times before lightly sucking on it and inhaling deeply through his nose as he did, "You are so sexy." He engaged a muscle which triggered his sex to move inside her.

"Seriously?" she chuckled. He smiled and brought his lips to her ear, "I can't help it if you turn me on this much." But he did finally retreat from her and inwardly groaned as he felt his penis slide out from her insides, he glanced down and was startled,

"You're still wearing underwear?!" His mind was so foggy before he must not have noticed. Gabriella laughed,

"Yeah… how did you not know that?"

"My mind was a liiiittle pre-occupied" He smiled, running his hand up her stomach and tracing around her breast, driving her wild. "I can fix that." He ran his hand down and immediately under the waist of her panties, running his finger over her clit and into her folds before gripping the cloth wet with all the liquids from their act, with both his hands and pulling it off her as she lifted her hips. Gabriella for her part was inwardly groaning at how much he was driving her crazy – again.

Troy felt himself start to harden again as he looked down at her now exposed sex. He groaned, "Damn," shaking his head to himself and licking his lips sub-consciously, "You…are so…hot." He couldn't help himself, he moved himself so his head was between her legs and he immediately began sucking on her clit, how could he still WANT her this badly after what he would describe as the greatest sex of his life. Gabriella groaned, already feeling the knot in her abdomen wind tighter and tighter,

"Troy wait," she said pulling at his hair. Troy moaned, sucking harder and shook his head. "Babe…we have plenty of time for this later tonight" Her thoughts had unfortunately strayed to the mass of people downstairs and suddenly she felt really embarrassed about being upstairs in their little sex den. She sat up and slid away from Troy whose face showed shock at the sudden disappearance from the body to which he was attending.

"Baaaaabe…I _need _you," He groaned as he moved closer to her, but she stopped him,

"Later – I promise." She got off the bed, grabbed underwear, another sundress, and disappeared in the bathroom before Troy knew what happened. Why…WHY must his girlfriend be so concerned with politeness when he was so hot for her. He got up and went to the bathroom door,

"Babe, can I at least take a shower?" But it was too late, she was already in the shower. He opened the door, hoping to hop in with her only to find the shower was behind yet another door, which he tried and cursed to himself when he found it locked. He went back into the room and checked his phone, it was 5pm. He sat impatiently waiting for Gabriella, before he decided to just wash off at the sink – he'd probably be in the pool later anyway.

He'd washed off all over, ran his head under the sink, got dressed, and was brushing his teeth by the time Gabriella emerged from behind the locked door. To both Troy's pleasure and regret she was wet and naked. He stopped mid-brush to turn and stare at her figure.

"Babe, can I use the bathroom when you're done with brushing?" she asked innocently. She didn't know it but Troy had been fighting this whole time to ease his arousal and now it was up again. He didn't know why exactly but he was so incredibly horny still, maybe because they were on break from practice and he wasn't getting as much exercise. He broke his trance and spit in the sink, rinsed his mouth, spit again and wordlessly walked out – he couldn't take it.

Gabriella emerged shortly after to find Troy sitting in the chair, knee bouncing, and staring out the window. She noticed a bulge in his plaid shorts and immediately felt really guilty. She wasn't trying to tease him, but it seemed to be much more difficult for him today than it has in the past. She strode over to him and put her hands on either side of his face and coaxed him to look at her. When he did she leaned down to kiss him, which he returned but very reserved. That made Gabriella feel even worse, so she sat down in his lap: an idea came to her.

"Babe…please, not right now," Troy protested and gripped her waist to lift her back up, but as he did Gabriella swung her leg around so that she was now straddling him.

"Gabriella, I know you don't realize it, but this is kill-" He was interrupted with a passionate kiss, which he reluctantly got lost in as his hands, with a mind of their own, found their way to her face and held her there. Gabriella broke his hold and moved to his neck, placing hot kisses all over. Troy's head fell back, forgetting everything but the wonderful feeling it brought. Gabriella was determined to feed his increased sexual appetite.

"Oh baby…" Troy started, "Ohhh…you have no idea how good this feels." Gabriella smiled as her hands made their way to his shorts, finding a very big bulge straining. She unzipped his zipper and reached in, alerting Troy who popped his head up,

"What are you doing?" he looked down at her hand as it found it's way through the hole of his boxers.

"Shhh…you'll see," Gabriella kissed his lips as she freed his sex from the confines of his shorts and boxers so that it now stood erect between them. Gabriella bit her lip, she'd never done this before – Troy and her had only ever had sex horizontally and with Troy taking charge. She suddenly felt nervous, but then Troy's voice cut into her thoughts, as if he was reading them,

"Oh my God babe, this is so hot." Those words gave Gabriella the confidence she needed: she unbent her knees so that she rose above him, and as she bent down to kiss Troy she reached underneath her and again moved her underwear aside. She continued to kiss him slowly, distracting him so that when she suddenly lined up his head to her entrance and sat back down taking him completely within her it was a surprise which caused him to gasp and moan so loud she worried it might carry 2 floors down to his team. So here they sat: Gabriella straddling him, both fully clothed – if anyone walked in they might just think they caught the couple making out – but what no one could see or know but Troy and Gabriella was that Troy's penis was now complete submerged inside of her. Gabriella rocked her hips and made circling motions as Troy's eyelids fluttered and he let out a breath of pleasure,

"Ohhhhhh….." Troy thrust his hips upward lifting them both off the chair for a moment and somehow managing to push deeper inside making them both moan. Gabriella could have strip teased him, or brought him back to the bed and carried on their usual way of getting busy, but somehow this: making love on a chair fully clothed seemed more exciting. Gabriella sitting on Troy's lap was something they'd done a thousand times, and somehow the fact that the only difference in this case was their connected organs made it sexy: it was like a secret they both hid together…him inside her with her dress draped over them concealing it from even them. But this concealment didn't satisfy Troy because it was then that he lifted the front part of her dress so he could see where her entrance stretched out over his thick member which disappeared in her depths. This different vantage point from which he was used to had him visualizing his penis going up into her as he scanned her abdomen on its outside. He found himself lifting Gabriella up with his hands, and she aided in unbending her knees – he saw his member reemerge inch by inch from within her until finally the head popped out, once again coated in her liquids. Then Troy guided Gabriella slowly so he could see as his tip gradually widened her entrance making himself bit by bit go within her – visualizing his length's reach on her outside. Gabriella in her part was going a little crazy with anticipation, she couldn't see anything and wondered what he was doing,

"Troy…" Her voice broke his trance.

"Sorry…I've just never seen us together this way before…"

"And?"

"And…I like it…a lot." He said with a smile before attacking her lips with his and then with his hands coaxed her by lifting her slightly up. She got the hint and began riding him: up and down, in and out. Troy grunted as he aided her in thrusting his hips upwards as she sat back down on him each time. Troy was making a noise she never heard him make before…usually it's just moans, breaths, and groans, but this was something different and it drove her wild. She threw her head back and her hair fell down her back as she continued to move up and down along his length. Soon she felt Troy shudder below her, his hips gyrating into her as he did, she slowed down and let his gyrating bring her to her own high. As she felt the knot unwind within her she collapsed on Troy's chest: all of her energy expelled. Troy rubbed her back and lifted her head to kiss her forehead before allowing her to once again nuzzle her face in his neck and relax. She suddenly felt grateful that Troy normally did "all the work" because as fun as this was, it was _tiring._ The pair sat there, breathing together for what seemed like minutes. Troy used his hand to move the hair off Gabriella's neck so he could turn his head and lay feather-light kisses there. He continued to kiss her, thanking her really, until she sighed,

"I promised 'later'."

Troy chuckled and then gave her cheek a kiss, "You didn't disappoint." He kissed her neck again, "I don't know what it is, but this whole day I've been struggling to keep myself in check. You're driving me wild Gabriella."

She smiled, "Probably all that pent up energy from no practice, not to mention all that anticipation."

Troy nibbled on her ear gently before whispering, "And of course being around my hot…_sexy_ girlfriend." Gabriella giggled before finally sitting back, Troy winced slightly,

"Babe, I'm still…"

"Oh!" Gabriella unbent her knees, releasing Troy from her insides as he held her hands helping her get off him and stand up. Troy looked down at his lap,

"Great." There was a big wet spot….gravity, "Guess I'm not wearing these shorts this weekend."

"Well I've gone through 2 underwear in the last couple hours…at this rate I'll have to go commando," she joked. Troy inwardly groaned and outwardly sighed,

"Please…if you want to leave this room at any point today, or this weekend, do not joke about your panty-less vagina due to how much great sex we've had."

Gabriella giggled, "Come on Wildcat, cold shower for you and then we HAVE to go back down there." Troy stood up, taking off his shorts as he did and walked over to Gabriella in his boxers, took her face between his hands and placed a tender kiss on her lips,

"I love you…so much." Gabriella kissed him again and was fiddling with something further down as she replied, "I love you too." Troy glanced down and saw her wet panties hit the floor and he groaned looking back up and closing his eyes,

"Ugggh. Baaaaabe…..now I REALLY need that cold shower."

"What?" Gabriella was confused for a moment.

"You…panty-less…we discussed this."

"Oh – right! Sorrrryyyy…." Boy…how many times would they need to have sex before his drive went down, because apparently it was still up. She shook her head at her adorable boyfriend and went on her tippy toes to give him a peck on the cheek, "Shower up!" She watched as Troy stripped his shirt and then his boxers walking into the bathroom, he did indeed have a slight boner. _Poor, under-exercised boyfriend_, she thought. But she had to admit, she liked how much he wanted her and her slight hold over him – not that she would ever use it to be mean to him – but it was nice to know he was a little at her mercy…her loving, sensitive, yet big-shot basketball star boyfriend.

* * *

**Hopefully it wasn't TOO crazy for you guys! Let me know if it is and I'll dial it back... :)**


	8. Last Weekend of Summer P3

**A/N:**

**Because I felt SO bad for essentially abandoning this story, I stayed up until 5am writing another chapter for you guys. Hopefully in my sleepy haze it's not terrible.**

**Let me know what you guys think...if anyone is still even reading this or not!**

**Oh! And Happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)**

**-MacKenzie**

* * *

Troy and Gabriella came downstairs to find everyone outside but Nathan and Drew who were in front of the TV playing video games. Without so much as a glance from the boys the couple crossed the room and exited out onto the patio which earned a big greeting from everyone,

"Heeeeeeey!" Day-Day shouted.

"Sweet! Bolton's back, now we can have a serious competition." Kalin exclaimed from the pool.

"Competition?" Troy questioned.

"Oh, Gabriella how are you feeling?!" Emily questioned coming over to them from a lounge chair.

"Flips off the diving board, you in?" Kalin answered Troy.

"Yeeaa—aaahhh!" Troy yelled pumping his fist.

"I'm feeling a lot better, thanks! Ready to watch these boys do some flips!"

"Good!" Emily smiled.

Troy leaned in and spoke into Gabriella's ear, "Good thing you're a lifeguard…I might need saving later." He chuckled and then kissed her temple. Troy was already in his swim trunks; he had abandoned boxers and shorts after dirtying his last pair. Gabriella however was in a yellow sundress with white details. Troy slipped off his shirt and handed it to Gabriella who smiled up at him,

"Be careful, Wildcat." He winked at her and ran off to the end of the pool, but not before she slapped his butt earning her one of those smiles of his that melts her heart. Troy was greeted by a lot of hoots and hollers as he sized up his competition: Kalin, Travis, Scott, Day-Day, Sam, and a late arriver: a junior guard by the name of Jeremy Kent. He was about 6'4'' and classically handsome with auburn hair and hazel eyes.

"You don't want in on this Luke?" Troy called across to his tall roommate.

"Nah man, do you know how long it would take to spin ALL this around in a flip?!" Luke indicated his long/tall body. Everyone laughed,

"Troy, trust me, he tried…you don't want to see that." Travis joked.

"Alright so what are we doin?" Troy asked. Kalin put a wet arm around Troy's shoulders,

"We just take turns doin flips and tricks off the diving board and then they," he pointed to Emily, little Michael, Luke, and now Gabriella had joined them in the chairs, "are the judges. Simple."

"Frosh goes first," Jeremy announced and then added, "What's up Bolton? I hear your girl wasn't feelin' to good?" he nodded towards Gabriella.

"Yeah, boating accident, but she's good now. It's good to see ya Jer – when did you get here?"

"About an hour ago."

"Cool. So…Travis and I first huh?"

"Ha! Correction Bolton: you first. I've been down here longer." Travis said.

"So then I get a few practices in first?" Troy edged.

"That seems fair," Scott agreed.

"Nuh uh! I didn't get to practice!" Trav complained.

"Fine, whatever, but I am going to get myself wet first." Troy announced as he dove into the pool and swam a ways before surfacing. He swam to the edge of the pool and hoisted himself out, dripping.

"Alright," he said crossing his arms across his chest and then spreading them back out wide – repeating this motion, stretching them out. He leaned his head from one shoulder to the other, prepping himself. Gabriella smiled watching him, here he was joining this crazy group of guys who undoubtedly had been practicing for the past hour on their tricks and he was confident in taking the bull by the horns and going first. Troy made short jumps in the air before leaping higher a few times.

"Okay… I think I got this," he said stepping on the board. The other guys slapped his back and rooted him on. Troy stepped to the edge of the board, turned around balancing his toes on the edge, bounced once super high before tucking his knees to his chest and doing 2 summersaults in the air, uncurling and landing feet first in the pool. Gabriella, Emily, and Michael cheered, some of the boys made sounds of surprise, and couple were in shock,

"What the hell was that?!" Travis exclaimed as Troy surfaced. Troy whipped the hair from his face with one head motion,

"What?"

"That was like some crazy gymnastics shit!"

Troy laughed, "Well you said tricks and flips!"

"Man, that was like some ninja diving," Day-Day exclaimed. Everyone laughed as Troy once again hoisted himself out of the pool and received high-fives from most everyone.

"Alright Trav, you're up! Let's see your flip!" Scott encouraged, as he chuckled knowingly. Travis rolled his eyes and slowly approached the board,

"Man…why you gotta be some crazy flipping white boy Bolton!?" He walked to the end of the board, bounced once and then tried to flip once around, but ended up twisting in the air and back flopping into the water eliciting a bunch of, "Ooooooo"s from the crowd. Kalin was next and he stood sideways on the board, flipping half way knees bent into the water. Jeremy did a terrible cart-wheel off the board, it was all Day-Day could do to do a giant, and impressive, cannon ball, Sam did an impressive front flip with no theatrics, and Scott did a back flip with nothing special added. In the end it was clear who the winner was: it was unanimous decision by the judges,

"Troooooy Boltooooon!" Michael yelled from the group of judges after deliberation. Troy jumped on the diving board again, and as he did Gabriella pulled out her phone to record him, he ran down the board bounced 3 times super high on the end, jumped out grabbed his ankles so his back arched created somewhat of a circle shape, spun 3 times before letting go of his feet, stretching out and diving head first in the water. Everyone whooped and hollered at the display of aerobatics, "Ooooohhhhhh Shieeeeeeeeet!" Day-Day screamed. Troy swam underwater to the end of the pool and surfaced to the cheers. He laughed and then looked over to Gabriella who looked to be filming it on her phone. He quickly got out and ran over to her,

"Did you video that on your phone?!" he asked. She nodded as she looked down at the screen to retrieve it,

"I think so!" Troy reached her and put his head over her shoulder. Gabriella shrieked,

"Troy! You're dripping all over me!" The cold water startled her. He smiled and turned his head to kiss her on the cheek,

"Show me!" He was too excited.

"Hey Water Bug why don't you grab a towel before you ruin my phone!" she told him. Troy smiled at her choice of nickname then quick ran over to the chair and snagged a towel wiping off his face and running it through his hair as he trotted back over. Gabriella looked at him with his hair, which was going every which way now; he was truly adorable. He winked at her; did he notice her checking him out?

"Better?" he asked approaching her.

"I guess," she titled her head up towards him and he rewarded her with a quick kiss, "Muuuah! Now let me seeeee!" He jumped up and down, gripping the towel to his chest.

"Okay, okay!" Gabriella said showing him her phone, "You're such a little kid sometimes I swear!" she accused smiling. Troy reached his damp finger to the screen before Gabriella slapped it,

"Uhhhh… WET fingers!?" Troy took his hand back and pouted,

"Sorry." Gabriella hit play and Troy watched his flip,

"WHOA! That's awesome! Did you see that? Play it again!" he requested. Gabriella obliged.

"Wow! Thanks for recording that babe!" He placed a kiss to her temple, "You gotta send that to Chad! He'll love it!"

"Hey Bolton! We're going to catch some waves before dinner – you guys in?" Scott called.

"Alriiiiight!" was Troy's enthusiastic answer. He looked down at Gabriella and saw the reserve in her eyes, "Aren't you comin babe?"

"I don't know how to surf…"

"So? Neither do I! We'll learn!" Troy's excitement was evident. Gabriella knew one of the things Troy wanted to do most since coming to California was learn to surf. She couldn't count the number of times he brought it up in the last few months.

"You go ahead, I'll hang out here with Emily."

"Aw come oooon baaaaabe!"

"Maybe tomorrow, I don't really think I'm up to learning another new water sport today." Troy sighed, this morning with the boat seemed like a lifetime ago. He took her face between his hands,

"Are you okay?"

Gabriella nodded. His thumbs stroked her cheeks,

"You're sure?"

Gabriella nodded again, "Yes, I'm good Troy…just want to take it easy is all. But you have to go, otherwise I'll have to continue to hear you talk about how much you want to learn to surf."

"You sure?" Troy glanced out at the waves before making eye contact with her again.

"Positive," she smiled, then tip-toed up to give him a kiss.

"You know," he dropped his hands from her face to her shoulders, "this probably will only mean that now I'll talk your ear off about how much I want to GO surfing from now on right?" He smiled then stuck out his tongue at his girlfriend who rolled her eyes at him,

"Oh just go, Wildcat," she shoved his chest playfully. He pulled her back to him and used his index finger to pull her chin up, looking her in the eye,

"Have I ever told you that you're the best girlfriend in the world?"

"Yes."

"Well, not nearly enough." He gave her a light kiss on the lips, "Love you."

"Love you, have fun."

"Troy!" Scott called from the stairs leading down to the beach

"Coming!" Troy called over his shoulder before bringing in Gabriella for a quick hug, then kissing her cheek, "See ya later, babe." He scurried off towards the stairs.

"Grab that board over there," Scott pointed the blue and yellow long board propped up against a wall. Troy did as he was told and followed Scott, Sam and Jeremy down the stairs, a huge smile on his face. Gabriella sighed, how he had so much energy after not much sleep and everything that already happened today she'd never know…he was like an energizer bunny. Gabriella turned and retreated back into the house to find Emily.

* * *

"Why didn't you go surfing then?" Gabriella asked Emily after Emily confessed she'd grown up in California and had been surfing since she was 5.

"Wellll… I've been surfing all summer – especially since Scott has been so busy, so I figured I'd keep you company. And besides…someone had to watch the little guy." She cocked her head toward Michael, who tuckered out from all his activities, was asleep on the couch. Gabriella and Emily had retreated to another room away from the room with the couches and TV, Gabriella wasn't sure what to call it… maybe a multipurpose room? It had chairs, couches, a piano, a guitar, a pool table, bookshelves, and a mini-bar.

"I bet it's been hard, with Scott not having much free time on the team." Gabriella commented.

"Yeah… sometimes harder than others. In the off-season it's not that bad…during the spring. He's really good about making time for me though… it's everything else that he can't control that is somewhat troublesome."

"Everything else?" Gabriella had a guess at what she was referring to already.

"You know: the girls, the media, the fans. It can get overwhelming…"

"I bet…" Gabriella agreed.

"Like…with the girls that meet him at the campout, or out at restaurants, or bars…if I'm not around they throw themselves at him, and sometimes when I AM around! He never does anything with them of course, but they'll take a picture with him, post it on facebook, or twitter, or instagram….it's just crazy. I get messages from girls saying he slept with them, or he'll get messages saying I am cheating on him. He had to make his instagram private because girls were stalking him, or making terrible comments about me when he'd post a photo of us together."

"That's terrible!"

Emily nodded, "Yeah…but I think it bothered him more than me…he can be protective in that way."

"How do they all know who you are?"

"We've been together so long…for the first year or so it was fine. No one knew who I was, and Scott wasn't a star player so no one paid much attention. But once he became a star people stalked his private life and basically made it public knowledge he was dating me: Emily Summers."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Troy's a good guy, I can tell, and smart…I'm sure he'll handle it just as well as Scott has. I don't think we'd still be together if he wasn't as great a guy as he is ya know?"

"Yeah…I can tell he is, and Troy always says great things about him…I'm just glad Scott is showing Troy the ropes so he can learn from the best." Gabriella smiled.

"Haha! He's happy to, trust me, he thinks a lot of Troy. How long have you two been together?"

"Uh, about a year and a half – 2 years in January."

"Well cheers to our amazing boyfriends!" Emily rose her glass in the air, and Gabriella brought hers up as well, they clanked glasses,

"Cheers!" Gabriella smiled, downing what little was left of the drink Emily had made for them, she couldn't remember the name but it was fruity and delicious.

"Want another?" Emily offered. Gabriella didn't drink much, if at all, but she figured when is the next time she'll be at a beach side mansion in great company, and no homework or exams to worry about.

"Sure!" She handed over her glass and as Emily went to the mini-bar Troy and Scott appeared in the doorway,

"There you are!" Troy exclaimed, "Well….I did it!" He stood straight up with his arms out, indicating a balancing act, "Took a couple tries, but I got up and rode some waves!"

"Really?!" Gabriella smiled.

"Yep!" Troy dropped his hands to his sides and strode over to Gabriella leaning down over the back of the couch to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"He's being modest, he was actually incredibly good for a first-timer, a natural for sure," Scott added. Gabriella turned her face towards Troy and beamed at him, her boy was so talented.

"Nah…I was alright….but I'm starving." He rubbed his bare belly, "It's dinner time inn't? It's like 8pm?"

"Food's on its way," Emily answered as she handed Gabriella her drink, Troy gave her a wide-eyed look. "Should be here in about 10 minutes I think."

"Thanks for ordering it sweetie," Scott greeted Emily with a kiss, "And I'll let Sam know his son is out-for-the-count." He said eyeing Michael, still asleep. He and Emily left the room. Troy walked around to the other side of the couch and plopped down next to Gabriella,

"So." He smiled at her in a way that made her giggle inside, "You're drinking I see."

"Yeah, it's super yummy."

"Really?" Troy leaned in closer and placed his hand around hers on the glass and took a sip, "Hmm…fruity." He licked his lips, "Tastes…girly." Gabriella rolled her eyes and then lightly hit him with the back of her hand,

"Well luckily I'm a girl then!"

"Yes, luckily," he said leaning in and giving her a kiss on the lips, lingering just a moment and then scrunched up his face and rubbed their noses together making her giggle.

"So you really did it then? You surfed? How was it?!" Gabriella nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. Troy let out an excited sigh,

"It was amazing Gabs…" he threw his head back into the couch and ran his fingers through his hair, gripping it and smiling, "I think if I'd grown up in California I'd have been a surfer instead of a basketball player."

"So does this mean I should call you Surfer Dude instead of Playmaker Dude?"

Troy chuckled, "Nah…but I'm definitely buying a board." He watched as Gabriella took another sip of her drink, "How many have you had?" Troy questioned.

"This is only my second one babe, relax." Troy eyed her,

"But have you been eating, cause-"

"-No, but we are about to! I bet the foods here." She stood up, and quickly realized that she might have wanted to do it slower because she was a LITTLE wobbly…and she knew that could happen if you're drinking, not eating, and then get up after having sat for a while. Troy stood up very quickly and steadied her,

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just hadn't stood up in a while."

"I told you…"

"Oh hush! Once I eat I'll be completely fine."

"Alright," Troy said as he put an arm around her waist to steady her and lead her back towards the common area. They passed Sam in the hall,

"I hear my little man is passed out in there?"

"Yeah, he knocked out about 2 hours ago, but we fed him dinner so don't worry about that." Gabriella answered.

"Great. Thank you so much, to you and Emily watching him."

"Is Brit here yet?" Troy asked.

"She'll be here soon unfortunately, hopefully he'll stay asleep otherwise he'll throw a fit saying goodbye to everyone." He continued into the room as Troy and Gabriella made their way down the hall.

"So what did you guys order?"

"Pizza, wings, salad."

"Right on. I'm **starved**."

* * *

"Come onnnnn Bolton!" Travis coaxed, "It's your turn, man."

"Nah, I'm comfy." Troy said from his place on the couch next to Gabriella, who was snuggled underneath his arm up against his side.

"It's Karaoke bro, we all gotta do it." Luke added. Then the whole room chanted, "Do it! Do it! Do it!" No one on the team had really heard him sing before, except maybe Trav and Luke when he was in the shower, but even then he didn't think they had either. He looked to Gabriella, who was admittedly a little drunk.

"You should do it babe!" She encouraged him with a goofy, yet adorable smile that made him want to do nothing but stay by her side on the couch.

"See?! Little honey agrees too!" Durrell, who had arrived sometime during dinner, said from behind the couch in slurred words. Troy sighed,

"Allllright!" He finished off his beer and set the bottle down on the table before rising from the couch. Gabriella sat up and squealed in excitement,

"Yaaaay! Go babe!" Troy smirked at her enthusiasm as he browsed through songs before landing on one he thought he could pull off: Sunday Morning by Maroon 5. He took the mic and stood in front of everyone as the music began to play,

_"Sunday mornin' rain is fallin'…" _He began and everyone in the room besides Gabriella seemed a little shocked at the voice that rang out – so spot on and approximately a million times better than the 5 previous players before him who sang. As the song continued to play Troy started getting more into the performance, throwing in some laid-back dance moves to go with the easy-going tune, which impressed the team. He threw in some ad-libs and took some creative liberty with the melody at times and at the end he got down on his knee and serenaded Gabriella,

_"Baby you're all…I…need."_ He finished and the whole room erupted with applause and praise,

"What the hell Bolton!? Is there ANYTHING you can't do? Got ourselves a little choir boy in here!" Day-Day announced.

" .Ha fellas… it's not a big deal." Troy said, a liiittle tipsy himself. He leaned down to speak to Gabriella, who interrupted him,

"You were amazing baby!" She reached up and kissed him.

"Thanks…I'm going to the bathroom and grabbing another drink… You okay here?" She nodded.

"Okay, be right back." He kissed her cheek and made his way to the bathroom.

"'Rell put her down!" Scott ordered as Day-Day tried to physically pull Gabriella off the shoulder of a stumbling Durrell.

"Stop! Stop! Put me down!" Gabriella's screams reached Troy's ears in the bathroom. He looked at the door and narrowed his eyes in confusion and worry.

"I only asked for a dance yo! She's being a bitch!" A very drunk Durrell tried to explain to Scott who had pushed him away from a scared, and also drunk, Gabriella, after a few of the players had managed to 'rescue' her from his grasp.

"Whoa whoa whoa…calm down-" Scott began.

"What the HELL is going on?!" Troy had re-entered the room after he rushed from the bathroom to see Emily holding Gabriella by the shoulders, Scott and Sam holding onto Durrell who was yelling and pointing at Gabriella and a few other players standing between them looking at Durrell.

"Your girlfriend's a bitch Bolton!" Durrell yelled in a slurred voice, his eyes glossed over in a drunk haze. Troy advanced on him,

"What did you just say?!" As he got closer Day-Day stepped up and stopped him,

"Whoa whoa whoa Troy, he's drunk."

"So what?! So am I!" He tried to push past a MUCH bigger Day-Day, "What the hell did you just say Durrell?!" Scott and Sam pushed Durrell farther away from Troy.

"Troy, 'Rell is drunk man – he asked Gabi to dance, she refused and he thought it would be funny to pick her up-" Luke started to tell him.

"WHAT?!" Troy was getting pretty angry now, or the alcohol was. "What makes you think," Troy managed to pushed past Day-Day, "you have ANY right to put your hands on her?!" Scott turned around to stop Troy as he advanced, still yelling, "You're drunk! You could have dropped her!"

"Troy!" Scott tried.

"I heard her! She was screaming for you to put her down!" He looked at Durrell past the barricade that was Scott, "If you EVER-"

"Walk away Troy, walk away."

"EVER. Touch her again or call her a bitch I'll-"

"TROY!" Scott jarred him away, " . This is NOT going to solve anything."

"Yeah walk away Frosh!" Durrell finally yelled back, pissing Troy off more, but he and Scott yelled at him at the same time:

"Screw you!" Troy retorted.

" . DURRELL!... Sam! Get him out of here!" He yelled with such authority Day-Day and Drew both assisted Sam in pushing Durrell down the hall.

"You owe her an apology!" Troy screamed after him.

"Troy! Stop! This isn't going to solve anything – he's so drunk he won't remember and you aren't completely sober either or you'd realize how pointless this all is."

"He put his hands on my girlfriend, scared her, and called her a bitch!" Troy yelled back.

"Yeah, he's a drunk idiot – your teammates, me, we stopped him. We had your back Bolton. And he WILL apologize, tomorrow, when all THREE of you are sober," he explained, "Got it?" Troy took in a deep breath and let it out, letting his anger go, Scott was right…but he wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't have yelled at Durrell even if he had been completely sober. He was never going to hit him, maybe get in his face, but never hit him…that wasn't Troy at all.

"Got it." Troy replied. Scott slapped his shoulder,

"Alright, good. You okay?" He inquired.

"Yeah…I'm alright." He said peering across the room at Gabriella who was sitting next to Emily looking pretty shaken and his heart broke for her. Scott released his hold on Troy; satisfied he wouldn't take off in the direction of Durrell.

"Alright man…sorry about all this."

"Not your fault."

"Still."

"I appreciate it," he said stepping around Scott and heading over to Gabriella. He crouched down in front of where she sat on the couch,

"Baby, are you okay?" he asked in a voice so tender, a stark contrast to 5 minutes ago. He cradled her face in his hand, noting there were dried tears on her cheeks. She nodded. "Are you sure?" he pressed. She nodded again. "Come here," Troy said pulling her to him, embracing her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head, "I'm going to get you some water okay?"

"I'll get it." Emily said getting up from beside Gabriella.

"Thanks, Em." Troy said standing up and taking Emily's place on the couch, pulling Gabriella over so she laid upon his chest as he held her, stroking her arm with his hand. Emily returned with the water and Troy moved the hair away from Gabriella's face so she could drink some water,

"I'm sorry Troy," she mumbled.

"Shhhh… you have absolutely NOTHING be sorry for babe," he said in a soothing voice as he cursed Durrell in his mind, "You're drunk, you'll feel better in the morning, I promise." He kissed her fore head and took the water from her hand, taking several gulps himself.

It wasn't long before Gabriella fell asleep on Troy. A few of the players were now outside in the pool, and Scott and Emily were on the other couch talking quietly. Troy very carefully eased out from under Gabriella, laying her on the couch. He bent down and began to slide his arms under her.

"Hey man, are you good to carry her?" Scott suddenly asked. Troy turned back towards him,

"Yeah, I'm totally good. Thanks for looking out though." Troy whispered back. He slid his arms underneath his girlfriend's small frame and lifted her off the couch, cradling her into his arms. Her head fell against his chest and she sighed in her sleep.

"Night." He whispered to the other couple.

"Night Troy." Emily whispered back.

"And thanks, to both of you."

"Don't mention it, bro," Scott replied. Troy turned and went up the 2 flights of stairs carrying Gabriella in his arms; she was so light he swore he could've carried her up 20 flights. When he reached their room he bent down and pulled the covers back with one hand and gently laid her down on the sheet. He carefully unzipped her dress from the back, pulled the straps of her dress down her arms, and then ever so slowly pulled the dress down and off her body so as not to wake her. He looked at his sleeping girlfriend now only in her underwear and bra…Hm. He knew, from the countless times she complained to him after accidently falling asleep in them, that she hated sleeping in bras – unless they were sports bras. He considered it for a moment, and then went to her bag – taking it with him into the bathroom so he could turn on the light. He rummaged in there to find what he knew she wore many times to sleep in when she didn't wear something of his…ah ha! A pink tank top, he thought it would be easy enough to put on her without waking her. He shut off the light and returned to Gabriella, who had unfortunately curled up with a pillow by this point. He unhooked her bra, sliding it off one arm before gently turning her on her back to remove it from the other arm. Then he opened the head hole of the tank top and carefully eased it over her head and then threaded each arm through its hole. He couldn't help himself: he traced his fingers over her chest and around her nipple before pulling her tank top down. Damn, she was so beautiful. He smiled, satisfied with his work, and then pulled the covers up over her. He tucked a few loose strand of hair behind her ear and away from her face then leaned down and kissed her fore head, "I love you, sweetheart."

Troy shut off the bathroom light, and then padded across the room in his boxers to the other side of the bed, getting under the covers then sliding over to where Gabriella was curled up. He placed a kiss on her cheek, then leaned back, waiting…Gabriella in her sleep reached out and placed her hand on his chest then scooted closer as he wedged his arm underneath her and she placed her head on his chest, curling up to his side. Troy smiled and kissed the top of her head, "Sweet dreams, Gabriella." He sighed, laying back and noticed for the first time the constellations Gabriella was naming off earlier were faintly glowing in the dark. Troy thought about how much Gabriella would love that, he too, found it beautiful. He smiled a small smile before closing his eyes, and settling in for the night holding his amazing girlfriend. It had been a LONG and crazy day, and they still had all day tomorrow for more adventures.

* * *

**Not gonna lie, I'm kind of partial to "Protective Troy" if you haven't noticed. :p**

**Love you all! 3**


	9. Last Weekend of Summer P4

**AN:**

**Thanks for the reviews guys! And shout out to Pumpkinking5 for their particularly great feedback! I love hearing from you guys so I can try and give you more of what you like :)**

**There will be one more "Last Weekend of Summer" chapter after this one...**

**Have an awesome Sunday!  
Mac**

* * *

Troy and Gabriella lay sleeping on their sides, Gabriella cradled to Troy's chest, his arm draped over her. They were peaceful. Suddenly Troy's phone rang out, jolting Troy awake. In a half-asleep daze Troy reached behind him on the night stand for his phone, he brought it to his face to turn off the alarm and then squinted at the screen when he realized he was getting a call. He quickly silenced the ringer, glanced over at a groggy Gabriella,

"Whaaaat…?" he thought he heard her say. He carefully and quickly slipped out of bed and out the door, answering the call as he did,

"Chad, what the hell man?!" he said closing the door quietly behind him. Now he was in the hall.

"Hoops! What do you mean? We haven't talked in forever!" Chad replied on the other end.

"Yeah buddy, but did you have to pick 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday to catch up?!" Troy exclaimed.

"You're not up for practices?" he innocently inquired.

"No! We have the week before classes off, I'm at the captains house for the weekend with Gabriella and we were up until like 3am last night man." Troy complained sleepily.

"Oh, my bad dude!"

Troy sighed, "It's alright, I'm up now – what's up with you man?!"

"You know, hoopin', livin' the dream."

"Yeah, I hear ya…it's kinda crazy right?"

"Really crazy."

"Yeah."

"How's Gabi?"

"She's good, we both start school next week – well, SHE'S starting a new semester I guess – so that will be…interesting." Troy almost said "difficult", but didn't want to talk about it, or even think about it this early in the morning – or at all really.

Chad seemed to take the hint, they knew each other so well, and didn't press him further about the relationship, "How ya liking your teammates?"

Chad's question brought last night's events to the front of Troy's mind and he shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh, "Man…last night Durrell got drunk, totally hit on Gabi, then picked her up on his shoulder, and called her a bitch!"

"What?! What did you do?!" Chad yelled.

"I screamed at him, and I dunno man, everyone was there and trying to diffuse the situation so I couldn't even really give him a piece of my mind…but it _really_ pissed me off."

"How did that even happen? I mean – "

"I went to the bathroom for like 2 minutes! 2 freaking minutes and the next thing I know I hear Gabi screaming to be 'put down' and when I get back to the room Scott is holding Durrell back who is screaming at Gabriella and calling her a bitch, Gabi's crying….I don't even know WHAT the hell was going on. But I flipped on him – I went at him and started screaming at him, Day-Day tried to hold me back, someone else tried to explain what happened but their explanation only pissed me off more, then Scott had to step in and calm me down while the others pulled Durrell from the room. UGH. It just pisses me off SO much." Troy realized that, now sober, he would have probably reacted in the same way regardless of his blood alcohol level.

"Daaaaamn man….that's crazy! I woulda hit him. What happened after they dragged him out of the room?"

"Oh I WANTED to hit him…but I wouldn't do that. After they took him out Scott just calmed me down I guess, and then I went over to comfort Gabi – but I mean…I didn't even know what to say ya know? 'Sorry babe that I left you alone for 2 minutes and my asshole teammate scared the shit out of you, but you'll feel better tomorrow?'"

"What DID you say? She's okay now right?"

"Yeah, she's okay…but I don't even know man…I think I just asked her if she was okay and then hugged her – she was…moooostly drunk…so hopefully whatever stupid things I may or may not have said she won't remember."

"Gabriella drunk?" Chad chuckled, "Now that I'd love to see."

"Well after last night, I don't know that you will. Probably traumatized." Troy laughed.

"So what's going to happen today then? Awkwaaard…."

"He's going to apologize." Troy's face hardened.

"Yeah, he should."

"Oh…he WILL apologize to her – it's not even a QUESTION," Troy said raising his voice.

"I'm sure he will once he's sober, Hoops."

"And if he so much as mutters under his breath about her again-"

"Troy…it's gonna work out dude."

"I don't know man…it just has me thinking back when the team recorded me sayin' all those things about how I didn't care about her and the singing thing and even though it was all a trick, she put sole blame on me…"

"Dude, that's a completely different situation than this one AND a different time – she isn't going to blame you for Durrell's actions."

"Yeah, I guess," Troy relented, "I just hate that it's my TEAMMATE that did this to her…someone I brought into her life."

"Troy, relax man…shit happens…"

Troy nodded, "Yeah…it sure does."

Several minutes later Troy hung up with Chad and realized for the first time he'd been pacing up and down the hall, clad only in his boxers. He quickly, and quietly slipped back inside the room to find Gabriella asleep in the exact middle of the bed. Troy shook his head and silently let out a small chuckle: she ALWAYS managed to sleep in the most inconvenient place when he left her alone in the bed…right in the middle. It could be a twin bed, a full, or a King and she always took over the middle. It was kind of annoying, but so incredibly adorable that Troy actually found it endearing.

Troy sighed, he really didn't think he could go back to bed at this point – he was wide awake and riled up from his conversation with Chad. He glanced around the room and ran his hand through his hair…as if he was looking for something to do. Then he knew what he would do: he grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and his running shoes. He sat down after slipping on the shorts, and then smiled to himself as he remembered what had happened in this very spot yesterday. He slipped on his shoes, and then strode over to the bed, and trying to put as little weight as possible on the mattress, he leaned over and kissed Gabriella's fore head.

Troy walked downstairs and into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water and taking several gulps before heading outside to the beach. Troy decided to turn left and run down the beach a ways – it was 8am so apart from some surfers not many people were out. He noticed a few families eating breakfast out on their patios, but other than that it was quiet and calming to run over the sand to the sound of the waves crashing in. After about 20 minutes Troy doubled back, and as he passed in front of Scott's house he saw Scott stretching on the back patio,

"Hey!" Troy called out. Scott looked up and waved,

"Hey! What are you doin?" he asked as he ran down the stairs leading to the beach.

"Just out for a run, clearing my mind. You too?"

"Yeah…I love going out for runs here, it's so beautiful and it clears my head – I usually go earlier but it was such a late night last night-" he stopped abruptly, hoping he didn't touch a sore nerve of Troy's. Troy bypassed the awkwardness,

"Yeah it's kinda therapeutic… would you mind a running partner?"

"Not at all."

"Cool." The pair took off down the beach and ran in sync for about 45 mins, making comments here and there, but neither wanted to break the calming therapy of running in silence to the rhythm of the waves. They passed by the house again and Troy dipped off as Scott continued on for the last bit of his run. Troy put his hands over his head as he caught his breath and stared out at the water. Man…he really wanted to go surfing. He checked his watch: it was 9:45am…he thought there was no way Gabriella was awake yet.

Sure enough, when he entered their room she was still slumbering the previous night's drama and alcohol away. He thought maybe he had at least an hour before she woke up – he bit his lip looking from her to his swim trunks lying on his bag. He tore off his shoes and clothes, and pulled on his swim trunks – carefully exiting the room once again.

Troy grabbed the board he used yesterday and ran down to the beach. He stopped for a moment, taking it all in, before attaching his ankle strap and running out into the waves. As he paddled out he took delight at the water splashing up at his face…it was nice. The first wave he caught was a little rough…it was more of a balancing act than actual surfing. But the more times he paddled out, the better he rode the waves back in. After about 15 waves he paddled out and then just sat there on his board, looking out…he definitely was a surfer in another life. He loved it. He checked his watch and saw that he had time for a few more waves before he thought he should head back in so he eagerly sought out his next one.

Troy was rinsing the salt water off in the outdoor shower when Emily came up from the side and greeted him,

"Hey Troy, I saw you out there…Scott was right, you really are a natural. You caught the bug."

Troy was startled for a moment at her presence, but then replied, "Thanks…and yeah…totally caught it," he paused before asking, "You haven't seen Gabriella yet this morning have you?"

She shook her head, "No…I thought she must still be sleeping – everyone else is."

"Good, I thought so – I wanted to make it back before she woke up."

Troy's hopes were realized when he, for the 3rd time that morning, snuck into the room and found his bed hogging girlfriend still asleep. Troy went into the bathroom and took a shower, and was happy to find her STILL slumbering. It was just past 11am, he swapped the towel he had around his waist for a fresh pair of boxers and then climbed back in bed. He kissed Gabriella's cheek and cuddled up next to her – nuzzling into the back of her neck. It seemed like he had just closed his eyes and thought, I could lay here for another hour or so with her, when she stirred beneath his arm and turned to lay on her back, stretching,

"Mmmmmm…" she let out as she opened her eyes and then sighed. Troy turned his head to look at her,

"Morning, beautiful. Did you sleep well?" He leaned over and kissed her lips.

"MmmHmmm," she answered, "How about you?" She smiled as she turned her head towards him.

"I slept great, because you were here."

"Aww…you're so sweet," she replied and then puckered her lips, Troy leaned in again and kissed them. He moved a strand of hair away from her face, god she was so gorgeous. Suddenly her eyes narrowed in confusion and she shifted onto her side, facing him,

"Your hair is wet. How…why is your hair wet?" she questioned.

Troy chuckled before answering, "I just got out of the shower…I woke up a while ago."

"How long is a while…"

"7:30…Chad called me and I couldn't get back to sleep afterwards."

Gabriella looked at the bedside clock, "Troy it's 11:20…what have you been doing for the past 4 hours?"

Troy smiled, "Well I decided to go for a run, work out some of that pent up energy," he gave her a knowing look, "and you were still asleep when I got back so," he ran his hand down her arm and then when his fingers reached hers he laced them together, "I went for a surf."

"You went surfing?!"

"Yep. It was amazing."

"Hm…how's Chad?"

"Chad's great. Chad had an early practice, so Chad decided to wake me up to talk."

"That was nice of Chad."

"Very nice." They smiled at each other and then Troy shook his head at their dorkiness.

"So you talked to Chad, went on a run, went surfing, and had a shower all before I even woke up?"

Troy smiled, brought their hands to his mouth and kissed the back of hers, "Sure seems that way. By the way, I want to point out you took over the middle of the bed again in my absence." He indicated her position on the bed.

"Well then MAYBE my boyfriend shouldn't have abandoned me!" she teased as she pushed him down his back and leaned over him smiling.

"You're right…it's all my fault you take over the bed when I'm not there – I should just never leave and it won't be a problem."

"Exactly."

"'Exactly'" he mocked as he nodded, then smirked.

"So it's settled: you will never leave a bed when I am sleeping," she smiled, then stuck her tongue out at him.

"That sounds like an agreement I can live with."

"Well, that's good. Promise?" He put his hand on her face and pulled her closer as he strained his neck upwards,

"Yeah," he said inching closer to her lips.

"_Promise,"_ she uttered quietly as their lips were a few inches away now.

"Promise," he whispered, his lips now centimeters away from hers, he closed the small gap and lightly kissed her lips. He pulled her between his legs and on top of him, deepening the kiss as he did. This time it was Gabriella who asked for entrance into his mouth, and when their tongues connected Troy inhaled deeply through his nose and cupped her bottom with his hand. Her hands ran through his damp hair as they continued to make-out, and Troy's ran from her face down to her shoulder, tracing her collar bone, before stretching the neck of the low cut tank top down so he could take her bare breast in his hand. He didn't have great access, but he wanted so badly to hold her supple breast and massage it, that he contorted his arm in such a way that this was made possible. His other hand lightly slapped her bottom and he pulled away from their kiss,

"You are SO sexy, you know that?" Troy kissed her neck now, then glanced down her body, suckling on her sweet spot for a moment before adding, "I mean are you kidding me with this?!" he slapped her butt again before gripping the cheek in his hand. He growled, "I can't keep my hands off you."

Gabriella giggled, "You're pretty hot yourself, Wildcat." She pushed herself up slightly, enough to create space between their torsos and then ran her fingers down his chest, making sure to trace the lines of his cut abdomen, "Look at you! All toned, and muscular…I think it should be another rule that you mustn't ever wear a shirt if we are alone."

"Oh really?"

Gabriella nodded, "Mmhmmmm"

"Hm…well…I think that rule should apply to you as well Miss. Montez," he said moving his hands to the bottom hem of her pink tank top, slowly inching it upwards.

"Well that could be awkward," she challenged.

"How so? I don't think it's awkward – I think it's reasonable," he'd uncovered the bottom half of her torso.

"Because a guy, otherwise dressed, with no shirt on is just…normal….a girl is just-"

"Sexy," Troy interrupted, the tank now just under her breasts.

"Weird," Gabriella finished.

Troy shock his head, "SO sexy," he pulled the tank over Gabriella's head – it slide down her arms and landed, stretched out over Troy's chest between her hands placed on either side of Troy. Troy didn't notice however, as his eyes were glued to Gabriella's naked breasts and immediately claimed them in his hands, teasing her nipple with his thumb. Gabriella lifted one of her hands to unhook the tank from that arm as Troy leaned up to attack her lips with his,

"Wait…." Gabriella eyed the tank, and Troy removed his hands and splayed them out in the air, as if to say, "What?"

"Where did this come from?" Gabriella asked holding the pink tank top. Troy gave her a confused look,

"Your bag….?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Obviously. I mean, how did it come to be on my body?"

"I put it on you last night," Troy answered, and then added, "You were asleep."

"You did?"

Troy nodded, "Well you hate sleeping in bras, so I figured your tank top would be easy enough to slip on."

"Aw." Gabriella smiled, then leaned down to kiss him once.

"I know: I'm a nice guy," Troy cockily smirked.

"The nicest," Gabriella agreed, "You are such a sweetheart."

"For you, always."

* * *

Troy was in the bathroom brushing his teeth as Gabriella, hair wet, shuffled through her bag and tried to decide what to wear.

"Babe, he was drunk."

Troy turned around from the sink to look at her, took the toothbrush out of his mouth and answered, "So?"

They were of course talking about the incident last night, Gabriella for her part remembered it all and recounted her version of the story to Troy at his request. She regretted it when she saw how it made him all angry again – especially when she told him the words he had used to ask her to dance: "A sexy thing like you gotta have some moves, lay some on me baby!" Troy had nearly exploded, and started cussing – something he rarely does, at least not in front of her. She could only really recall a handful of times outside the times they are having sex that he swore. But he was ranting, Gabriella couldn't even make out most of what he was saying, all she knew was he was seriously pissed about the situation. Now here he was, aggressively brushing out his anger.

"I just mean, give him a chance, maybe he'll come out and apologize."

"He better f-" Troy turned around and spit into the sink, "He better fucking apologize – or I'll make him. There is NO excuse for what he did Gabriella. NONE." He continued anger brushing.

"Of course not, but he's your teammate – give him a chance to make things right."

"Never seeing his fucking face again would make things right."

"Troy!"

"What?" he asked shrugging his shoulders. Gabriella sighed as she watched him to continue to brush, and brush, and brush.

"You should spit and rinse babe."

Troy stopped brushing, then paused before removing the toothbrush from his mouth, turning around spitting, rinsing, and for good measure: splashing his face with water. He toweled off his face as he spoke,

"Gabriella I'm not letting him off the hook for this. He disrespected you, and was basically a piece of shit. Drunk or not, you don't ask out a teammate's girlfriend, and you certainly don't pick her up against her will, and you definitely don't say the things he said to you."

Gabriella sighed, "You're right….but PLEASE…just be calm and hear him out. Okay?"

Troy considered this before making a face and shaking his head, "Can't make any promises." Gabriella let out a breath of frustration: she loved how protective Troy was of her, but she also didn't want him to get so worked up about things, and definitely didn't want there to be a riff amongst teammates. That would be dreadful.

"Then just try?" Gabriella pleaded.

"Okay…I'll try," Troy agreed, "But then can you please…PLEASE try putting on some clothes before I pick you up, throw you on the bed and ravish you? Because I am starving so much that my insides are in pain, and I don't want to have to choose between eating and sex….because I'm pretty sure sex would win…and that might be detrimental to my nutritional health." His eyes ran up and down her figure as he leaned against the bathroom door frame, she was wearing a thong and matching bra. He bit his lip, trying to contain himself – his run this morning HAD helped, but he still wanted her.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at him, "Well then you pick out what I should wear."

Troy pushed himself off the door frame and walked over to where she was, as he neared her she bent over to show him the options, exposing her mostly naked rear towards him. Troy groaned and let out a breath before quickly going to her side, straightening her up by her arm,

"Please…let's not bend over."

Gabriella gave him a weird and confused look but then continued to explain her various options. After the 5th one Troy stopped her,

"Babe….we came here for the weekend….2 days…WHY do you have so many clothes?"

"Well…I mean…what if I really felt like wearing this blue dress and didn't have it?"

"Then bring it and leave the others," Troy deduced simply.

"But what if I woke up today and decided I really wanted to wear these white shorts and red top? Or maybe I'd feel like these black shorts and that pink top, OR maybe I'd feel like spicing it up and wearing a romper-"

Before she could continue Troy interrupted her, "So…what you're telling me is…to make sure you had what you needed should you decide to wear it you brought WAY more than necessary….And now we sit here, you mostly naked and driving me nuts, because you CAN'T make a decision because there are too many options." He looked at her.

"Uh….yes?" She bit her lip looking up at him.

"You do realize how ridiculous that is."

"Kind of…it works sometimes."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah…like I'll wake up and think: I really want to wear this outfit today."

"Uh huh…and how often does that happen?" Troy gave her a doubtful look.

"Enough."

Troy laughed, "Yeah right! Liar."

"Nuh uh!"

"Wouldn't it just be easier to bring ONE set of clothes per day and then you don't have to decide?"

Gabriella pouted, "But..but…what if I don't feel like wearing whatever I brought and want to wear something I left home?"

Troy shrugged, "They're just clothes! No wonder it takes you so long to get ready! I never knew the level of your indecisiveness." He laughed and threw up his hands, "Oh my GOD I love you so much!" he declared shaking his head and giving her a hard kiss on the mouth.

Gabriella's eyes widened in shock, she didn't expect that response, "What was that for?"

Troy shook his head smiling, "Only you could get me into a discussion THIS long about clothes, packing, and the emotional rollercoaster of deciding on an outfit – I don't even think I understand any of this."

She smirked and then put her hand on his chest, pushing him slightly, "Well it makes perfect sense to me, so don't question it."

He leaned down to kiss her again, "Wouldn't dream of it." He grinned, Gabriella's method made absolutely no sense to him and certainly wasn't logical, but hey, maybe he shouldn't question a process which puts his girlfriend in the cute outfits that he gets to enjoy seeing her in. He looked back down at the clothes options, picking up high-waisted white shorts and an aqua top with a plunging v neckline.

"But babe. You have to get dressed," he put simply as he handed her the clothes, covering up her breasts which had been teasing him from her bra, and then walked towards the bathroom.

"But, with these shorts I have to change my underwear otherwise-"

Troy put his hands over his ears, "No no no no…don't want to-I CAN'T hear about your underwear – just do what you gotta do and I'll be locked up in here." He shut the door.

* * *

Troy, Gabriella, Scott, Emily, Day-Day, Sam, and Luke sat eating sandwiches at a table, a few other players played video games, and a couple more watched while lounging on the couches. It was early afternoon, and not everyone was awake yet, but then Durrell emerged from the stairs, stopped a moment to look at Gabriella and Troy, and then continued into the kitchen. Troy shot bullets from his eyes as Durrell went into the fridge and grabbed a water bottle, chugging it empty.

"Damn, I feel like shit," he announced, "Fucking hang over man." Everyone in the room now, apart from those playing the video game, looked over at Durrell and stole glances at Troy who sat there, stone-faced. Troy's blood was starting to boil. Durrell didn't miss the eyes moving between him and Troy,

"What's your problem frosh?"

_What's my problem?! 'Fuck you asshole', that's my problem. _But before Troy could answer aloud Scott interjected,

"'Rell how about you, me, Troy, and Gabriella go in the other room?" Gabriella took Troy's tense hand in hers and rubbed reassuring circles with her thumb on the back of his hand.

"Uh…okay, whatever," Durrell answered. He followed Scott down the hall, and then Troy and Gabriella followed behind, hands linked,

"Babe, calm down, remember…just try," she soothed as she stoked her hand up and down his arm. Troy took a couple measured breaths, he would TRY. When they all were in the den, a room on the other side of the house away from prying ears, Scott shut the door. It was silent for a moment, no one knew who was going to start, so Scott stepped up,

"'Rell, what do you remember from last night?"

Durrell took in a deep breath, "Maaaan, I don't even know." Troy rolled his eyes and scoffed while shaking his head. Gabriella squeezed his hand.

"You hit on my girlfriend, said inappropriate things to her, put your hands on her, and called her a bitch," Troy stated flatly, "That ring a bell?"

Durrell laughed and Troy suddenly REALLY had the urge to hit him, he wouldn't, but he reeeealllly wanted to. Troy clenched his jaw.

"It's not funny man, really uncool," Scott said.

"Man, I was DRUNK…"

"That's not an excuse man, what you did was really disrespectful to Gabriella AND to Troy. He's our teammate 'Rell."

Durrell rolled his eyes, "Man y'all takin' this too seriously – it was a party yo. But whatever – sorry you don't know how to have fun sweetheart-" Something inside Troy snapped and suddenly he was bounding across the room ignoring Gabriella's plea and gripping Durrell's shirt with both hands, his face inches from his teammate's,

"You shut the fuck up before-"

"BOoooooy!" Durrell started.

"Troy…" Scott interrupted, his hand on Troy's shoulder.

"He's not sorry! He's not drunk, and he's still acting like an asshole," Troy said shoving Durrell slightly as he let go, but Durrell came back at him – luckily Scott stepped between them. Gabriella put her hands to her mouth in shock. Everything was happening so fast:

"You better watch yo'self frosh!"

"Back at ya!"

"STOP!" Scott tried.

"You're such a little bitch"

Troy might actually have to hit him, "Says the guy hitting on his teammate's girlfriend like a pathetic pussy!" Durrell came at Troy then, managing to side swipe Troy's head around Scott's attempts to block, Troy's face wore shock before he went after Durrell – that's it: he was going to hit him. But Scott turned and shoved Durrell, HARD, backwards into the wall. Gabriella let out a small scream and ran over to Troy pulling on his arm, pulling him away from Durrell and he followed, letting her lead him away.

"You don't fucking touch him! YOU made the mistake, YOU refuse to take responsibility, YOU are acting like an asshole. He just wants an apology and you can't even give him that – it's pathetic. Don't forget, I'm the captain of this team and if I wanted I could have a talk with coach about your attitude and un-teammate-like behavior. People's scholarships have been pulled for less and frankly you've been causing trouble for the past 3 years, ever since you got here so you're already on thin ice aren't you? You say we are making a big deal out of it? They just wanted an apology, if it's no big deal then why are you being such an ass about it and trying to fist fight? Just fucking apologize!" Scott finished as he shoved him again into the wall and backed away. Durrell looked stunned. There was an uncomfortable silence. Gabriella looked at the three boys, and then focused on Troy – trying to discern his emotion, she decided on surprised.

"Troy, are you okay?" she broke the silence and put her hand over the place Durrell had hit him. Troy, who had been looking across the room at the other two, brought his attention down to Gabriella,

"Yeah…yeah I'm fine."

"Look y'all…" Durrell started and Gabriella and Troy both turned their heads to him. "This shit is crazy…but…Troy, I'm sorry I messed with your lady man – we teammates and I shouldn'ta done you that way…so I'm sorry."

Troy thought a moment, now that things were calmer he didn't want to spark anymore fires, so he spoke carefully, "Man…no offense…but SHE is the one who you need to apologize to, not me."

Durrell looked to Gabriella and made a noise: pffft. Troy clenched his fist, but then Durrell continued, "Girl, you know I was just playin'-"

"That's NOT an apology." Troy said trying not to raise his voice.

"Calm down white boy and let me finish. You know I was just playin', but I'm sorry I took it too far and freaked you out…I didn't mean any harm…and sorry for calling you a bitch too." He finished and Gabriella looked back at him before replying,

"I accept your apology…" she was going to add more but Troy stepped in,

"But don't EVER disrespect her like that again."

Durrell nodded, stepping forward and sticking out his hand. Troy eyed it before taking it and shaking it.

"Alright…can we put this behind us and have some fun? This is the last day after all," Scott suggested.

"Fun sounds good," Troy replied.

* * *

It was sunset and Troy and Gabriella found themselves sitting in the hot tub, his arm around her, both relaxing. They had gone down to the beach earlier, built a sand castle like little kids, and Troy had attempted to teach Gabriella to surf. It didn't go so well, and she quit on him, but he was determined and vowed he would make her into a surfer someday. There had also been a game of basketball, Troy, no longer concerned with always running the plays and distributing the ball to the right players actually kicked ass. He showed a completely different player than he had been in practices, earning words of praise from the guys. It had been a good day.

Troy leaned his head back against the edge of the tub and sighed.

"I don't know how you do it."

Troy responded without opening his eyes, "Do what?"

"You got hardly any sleep, went for a long run, went surfing - twice, played a couple games of basketball, and somehow you're still alive and awake."

Troy shrugged, "Dunno."

"You don't even drink coffee."

Troy made a face, "That's cause coffee is disgusting."

"I disagree, and I need it to stay awake to study and stuff."

"Blegh!" Troy's face wore a look of distaste.

"You'll see once you start school – you'll be drinking it in no time."

"Never."

"We'll see…" Gabriella moved her head from side to side, trying to stretch. Troy peeked out from under his closed eyes to see what she was doing,

"Something wrong?"

"Oh no…just trying to stretch out my neck."

Troy frowned, "Is it hurting?"

Gabriella shrugged, "Well… a little, I think maybe I strained it earlier on the beach or something."

Troy sat up, "That's no good." He pulled his arm from around her and took her hand, beckoning her towards him, "Here, sit between my legs." He opened up his legs and she floated over and sat. He began massaging her shoulders and neck and she closed her eyes,

"Mmmmm….that feels nice," she murmured. Troy kissed the back of her neck and then continued to rub,

"I'm going to miss you so much once school starts," he sighed.

"We'll make it work Troy."

"I know…but…I'm still going to miss you."

"Let's not think about it yet, just be here in the moment. What has been your favorite part about this weekend so far?" she asked.

Troy thought for a moment, "This." His answer surprised her, she thought for sure he'd either say the sex or learning to surf…he was always keeping her on her toes that boy.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear, breaking her thoughts.

"I love you," she replied. He massaged her for a couple more minutes before she felt his erected length poking her backside. Troy cleared his throat, shifted, and kept massaging, but Gabriella lifted her arms back and encircled his head. She pulled him closer, turned her head over her shoulder and kissed him. Troy inhaled through his nose as his arms wound around her middle and trapped her against his body. They deepened the kiss, making out now, and under the concealment of the bubbles Troy's hand trailed to her inner thigh, making circles. Gabriella slouched so only her head was above water and in response Troy's other hand made its way up from her middle to cover her breast. Her hands were now underwater and gripping the underside of his thighs, anchoring herself to him.

Troy's hand moved from her thigh to over her mound, rubbing up and down over it with a flat palm – just teasing her. She moaned into his mouth and then broke away to look around them. The hot tub was behind a lattice work wall, so in the dark no one could see in unless they put their face up against it. Troy brought her attention back to him when he slid his fingers under her bathing suit, finding her folds – massaging them and eliciting another soft moan from her mouth. He focused now on her clit, making slow circles on it, she let out yet another high-pitched moan,

"Oh my God Troy…" In the hot water, with the jets, and him touching her – it felt incredible. His fingers moved, playing at her entrance – but he didn't have the reach or angle to enter in her so he simply applied teasing pressure. Gabriella bit her lip in anticipation, anticipation of something Troy wasn't delivering. She moved her hips to try and force him, but it didn't work. Then as he continued to tease her, he brought his thumb up through her folds and to her clit, rubbing circles. He was driving her WILD…she took loud, quick breaths. Then she couldn't take it any more, the knot inside her kept winding and winding and winding, so she flipped around so fast Troy didn't know what hit him. And just as fast her hands found their way to his trunks, un-doing them and reaching her hand in. She took him in her small hand and pulled him out, under the water, concealed, she started to rub: up and down his shaft. Troy sucked in a breath and his head went back as she slowly jerked him off, but not going fast enough, she too was teasing him. When he couldn't take it anymore he gripped her with both hands around her hips and pulled her _super_ close…his length up against her bathing suit, poking at where it blocked her entrance, pushing in, stretching the fabric – he looked into her eyes as his fingers made their way down and moved the fabric aside, teasing her skin there as he did. Then he lined up at her entrance and_ slowly_ eased into her, she could feel herself stretching to accommodate his girth, the head of his sex was in now. Troy prepared himself to thrust his full length into her when Gabriella stopped him,

"Troy," she breathed, and Troy let out a breath of effort. She continued, "We can't…not in his hot tub…" Troy frowned, but knew she was right. He groaned, perhaps a little too loud, as he took her and released himself from her...moving her away from him entirely, she protested but he put his hand up,

"Give me a minute."

"But-" she started.

"Give me a minute and then we are turning in for the night," he stated with hidden meaning behind his words. His own hands submerged to his lap, she couldn't see but she thought he was attempting to put himself back in his trunks, he winced and then removed his hands from the water. The jets suddenly clicked off, the timer had run out, and as the bubbles subsided Gabriella could see Troy sitting there, his sex still fully erect and exposed under the water. Her poor boy. He breathed evenly in and out, probably trying to think of things to subdue his arousal...Gabriella knew she was in for it once they 'turned in the for the night.'


	10. Last Weekend of Summer P5

Once they had said their goodnights to those still downstairs and had made their way up the stairs, hand in hand, they reached their door and Troy opened it,

"After you my darling," he said waving his hand in front of the entrance.

"Such a gentlemen," Gabriella giggled as she stepped through.

Troy followed, shut the door, spun her around and roughly pressed her up against it, "Don't get used to it – I'm about to be very UN-gentlemenly." Gabriella giggled at this and he immediately pressed his body into hers, pinning her against the door and quickly began fighting for dominance over her tongue as he kissed her. His hands moved from the door on either side of her head to her breasts, massaging them, groaning as he did – grinding into her with his hips. Soon he was dissatisfied with her bathing suit top, he picked her up and she looped her legs around his waist, never breaking the kiss. But he did now as his lips moved to her neck, below her chin, roughly kissing the skin there while simultaneously trying to undo her bathing suit top, unsuccessfully,

"What the hell!" he cried out in frustration.

"It's tricky…" Gabriella explained. Troy had no patience for tricky, he gripped the bathing suit band and tore it upwards over her head, taking her arms up with it. Just as suddenly Troy's mouth was on her breasts as he walked over to the bed until his legs pressed up against the end of the mattress. He then fell forward, throwing himself and his girlfriend onto the bed. Gabriella let out a small scream and then laughed as Troy caught himself before he crushed her. Not skipping a beat Troy reached down to his trunks as he occupied Gabi's mouth with his. He shucked his swimwear down and kicked it off his left foot somewhere across the room. Gabriella immediately took him in her hands, pumping a few times.

"Oh baby…" Troy whimpered, breathing heavily. Her hands on him sent an electric spike up his spine and wound his insides tighter and tighter. Gabriella smiled at his sexual appetite for her, their lives certainly weren't all about sex, but tonight – their last night together in who knows how long – WAS.

As she stroked him up and down, his hands fumbled with lack of concentration on their task: removing her bottoms. But he managed to pull them all the way down and off before returning to her, his mouth was all over her soft skin, kissing from her knee up her inner thigh, skipping her center, then placing a sensual kiss at the crease where her leg met her apex before continuing down the other leg with kisses to her inner thigh. Gabriella was so wet for him at this point, his hands and mouth on her drove her mad for him. He returned, but this time he flicked out his tongue to her clit as his hands found her breasts and began rubbing and gripping them. Troy's tongue swirled, flicked, and sucked on her clit and down her folds to her entrance and back up. Gabriella gripped the sheets as she moaned loudly in pleasure. Then, to her surprise, she felt two fingers enter her as he continued to give attention to her clit with his mouth. When did one of his hands leave her breast? The other was still there, giving her nipple much attention. He pumped his fingers in and out, used his tongue, and massaged her breast – the combination of which was unbelievable and was sending her over the edge – she thrashed her head back and forth and her moans increased in volume and rose in pitch, getting higher and higher. Her breath quickened and she was getting closer and closer to that amazing climax when Troy stopped. His fingers still within her, he pulled his mouth up to her ear,

"Not without me you don't." His fingers retreated and so did he. He was back momentarily and hovered over her, lining up his tip to her entrance, hesitating.

"Pleeeease Troy," she pleaded, she was SO wet and needed her release. That was all he needed to hear, his tip found her entrance and slid in – now she knew what he retreated for: a condom. Even with it on, it still felt freaking amazing, and she appreciated him abiding to their usual practice of wearing a condom as an extra precaution. He thrust deep into her, before pulling out again. He did this a few times at a steady pace, then he changed it up: moving his hips into hers in a new way…she didn't know what changed but it was hitting her in a different way and it felt gooooood. Gabriella moaned,

"Oohhhhhhh…Troy that feels so good." He was making love to her, not just heated sex like they'd had other times this weekend. He was putting all his effort in to give her the best pleasure he could. She felt his length sliding in and out with her wetness, she basked in how he filled her up completely, her walls hugging him tightly. She opened her eyes to see sweat on Troy's muscles and face, his face concentrating. She bit her lip,

"Baby…" she started.

"Yeah…?" he kept thrusting.

She pulled him down to her so she could whisper in his ear, "That feels SOOooo freaking good…but…now I want you to f- do me hard." She wanted to swear, but she just couldn't…but she didn't need to tell Troy twice. He kissed her then picked up his pace, banging into her – she was so wet, so warm, and so _tight_ around him it was almost as if her walls sucked him into her as he thrust. He did so so hard that a slapping sound occurred each time their centers met. He pulled all the way out once, JUST so he could watch as his penis opened her up again when he slid his tip in, re-entering her – and she took him completely within her. The pair banged HARD, he slammed his body into hers sending his sex into the depth of hers as she too, thrust her hips into his.

They both moaned, and their breath quickened.

"Fuck, you feel so good baby," Troy breathed out, continuing to thrust, he wasn't going to last much longer, "Baby, I'm really close."

"Just keep hitting me hard, keep filling me up so deep."

_Fuuuuck_ Troy RELISHED the times she talked dirty to him, she probably didn't realize what it did to him, it was so GODDAMN sexy and her words, to his pleasure, and somewhat dismay, sent him over the edge. His whole body quivered as he released, he kept thrusting into her as his liquid filled the condom, and then he heard as her moans became shorter and high-pitched until she let out one long one and he felt her walls pulsate and tighten around his penis. God, that felt good. Her breathing slowed, and when they both had ridden out their highs he retreated from her insides. Gabriella sighed, another reason she preferred no condoms: he could stay in her longer…condoms got messy and difficult after the erection was gone. It was easier to remove them sooner rather than later – which Troy did, throwing it away. He returned to Gabriella and cuddled her to him,

"I love you so much," he said kissing her hair.

"Love you more," she replied.

"Impossible," he kissed her fore head.

Troy laid on his back and Gabriella was cuddling up to his side: he held her hand on his chest, her head in the crook of his neck, and her leg hitched up over him. She adjusted herself so that her breast wasn't crushed between her chest and his rib cage, and in doing so, moved her leg – a movement that caused Troy to bring in a sharp breath,

"Babe – your leg," he said picking it up, adjusting his manhood underneath her so her knee would no longer crush it, before placing her leg back down in a better position.

"Sorry," she mumbled, falling asleep. She opened her eyes and sighed though, she had to use the bathroom. She kissed Troy's pec and then rolled away, strolling to the bathroom, grabbing his old t-shirt and underwear on her way. She emerged a couple minutes later, wearing Troy's Wildcat shirt and crawled back into bed. She snuggled up to a half-asleep Troy, quickly falling asleep herself.

"You left the light on," Troy mumbled.

"Hm?" Gabriella answered.

"The light."

Gabriella groaned, not wanted to get up again, she was warm and comfy and sleepy, "Baaaaaaby…."

Troy sighed, he too was sleepy, "What?"

"Can you?"

Troy let out an exasperated breath. "YOU left it on," he groaned.

"Pleeeease…"

Her plea was met with silence, she wasn't sure whether he was considering it or he had fallen asleep. She tried again, "Trooooooy…" she whimpered.

"Nooo, you do it," he complained, cranky. She pouted, she knew it was childish, but she really just didn't want to get up. Troy peeked down at her after both laid in silence for a minute and saw her pouty lips. He groaned, but gave up, got out of bed, and made a pit stop at this bag to slip on some boxers before turning off the light. He rolled back into the bed.

"Thaaaank youuuu baaaaby…" Gabriella cooed, kissing his cheek.

"Uh huh," he replied, un-impressed, "You owe me." She kissed him again,

"Deal." She curled up once again to his side, nuzzling into the crook of his neck, breathing deep to take in his scent. She placed a kiss to his warm skin and smiled to herself, thinking how lucky she was to have a boyfriend like Troy. His arm, which was wrapped around her shifted slightly and his hand made soothing movements across her torso: moving from her hip to her waist as they both drifted off. Whether sub-consciously or consciously she didn't know, but Troy's hand ventured further down to the hem of his t-shirt she wore and snuck under it before continuing the same motions it did before, only now on her skin. Gabriella sighed with content and let his caress lull her to sleep.

* * *

Gabriella woke up shivering, glancing at the clock she saw it was 4AM. She realized at some point in the night her and Troy must have separated. This usually happened when Troy got over-heated and sweaty, then subconsciously rolled away from her, seeking relief from the high temperature. Gabriella searched for the blanket, before realizing Troy was wrapped up in it, she attempted to tug it from him but it was no use – it was tangled up in his legs.

"Troy…" Gabriella whispered. "Troy!" she whisper yelled. No response as he lay there on his back, hand on his chest, blanket doing little good trapped in his legs.

"Trooooy…" she used her full voice this time and Troy stirred.

"Trooooooy," she tried louder and with complaint in her voice. He groaned in protest of being woken up. "Troy please…" she kissed his cheek this time. He smiled slightly,

"Hm?" he replied, his annoyance with being woken up was fading with that kiss.

"You've stolen all the covers."

"Ugh!" Troy let out, his annoyance was back, throwing his arm over his face, "So take them then!" His voice with thick with crankiness and frustration at being woken up.

"I-I can't…"

Troy peeked under his arm and realized the issue, "Ugh." He started kicking his legs to free himself, but it didn't do much. He stilled again, and Gabriella thought he might be going back to sleep when he sighed, paused, then sat up. He used his hands to try and un-do the tangles. His sleepy hands fumbling, Gabriella moved to help,

"How on earth did you even manage to do this?" she asked unwinding it from his left leg.

"I can do it my sleep," he muttered. She giggled, and it was then that he noticed how much Gabriella was shivering. His hands dropped the blanket and came up to her arms, rubbing up and down. Her skin was cold, and rough from the goose bumps.

"Sorry," he whispered, placing a kiss on her shoulder. She pulled on the blanket, and Troy wiggled his legs free. He helped by spreading the blanket over her and she curled up in a ball, her back to him, as he did. He immediately dove under the covers as well, reaching an arm towards her he pulled her across the bed, hugging her to his chest. Her bottom was seated snuggly in his crotch, but she was still shivering so he threw his right leg over her hip and moved to put his feet on top of hers, taking in a shocked breath as he did,

"How are your feet SO cold?!" he exclaimed feeling her ice-cold skin against his.

Gabriella shrugged, and Troy snuggled her impossibly close to him, breathing in her scent. Then he started placing his warm lips on her neck and shoulder.

"How is it SO cold in this room?" she complained, before it occurred to her, "You didn't open a window did you?"

Troy's kisses stopped, "Uh…maybe?" he thought for a moment, "I dunno, I can't remember."

"Probably," Gabriella answered. She had woken up countless times to chilly morning air seeping in through an open window thanks to her boyfriend's half-asleep attempts to cool off.

"Probably," he agreed and kissed her neck in apology. Gabriella stopped shivering after a minute and settled into Troy's warm embrace. _Well, _she thought,_ at least with the window open he won't get over-heated._

* * *

The next time Gabriella woke up, the early morning light was streaming through the window. She opened her eyes and focused on the clock: 7AM. It didn't take long to figure out what had woken her up this time: in his sleep Troy's hand had made it's way south, and under the elastic band of her underwear. Now it was sandwiched, perhaps trapped, between her legs and his fingers sub-consciously played within the folds of her sex. She bit her lip as she realized one finger in particular was at her entrance, applying a light pressure there. She shifted slightly and opened up her legs a tad – expecting him possibly to reclaim his hand. He didn't. She let her top leg fall back down, once again trapping him there. She decided his gentle massage felt nice and tried to fall back asleep, she moved her pelvis slightly forward in attempts to settle herself in, only to gasp: her movement had caused Troy's finger to slide slightly inside her. His finger still made light pressure, along with the others. Gabriella once again found herself biting her lip as she rocked her pelvis back, releasing his finger, and then again forward even further so that now his finger was inside her up to his knuckle. She could feel herself getting wetter as Troy's fingers still softly massaged her lady part. After a couple minutes, she couldn't take it anymore.

Gabriella relented the loss of Troy's finger as she rocked her hips backwards, grinding into Troy's crotch, she repeated this action a few times before Troy's hand clamped down on her mound, straining her to him as he pushed forward into her behind. Gabriella didn't know if he was awake yet, she guessed not because she couldn't imagine Troy waking up with his hand where it was and not give some sort of indication at realizing it. Gabriella could feel his length against her butt, she needed him to wake up, so she started moving up and down, as much as she could while pressing back towards him. His groin moved with hers a moment, straining towards the contact – and his hand dug into her folds as it held her to him. Then she heard Troy's sudden intake of breath, his hand stilled, as did she. They both lay for a moment, motionless. Troy, just woken up, wasn't sure if Gabriella was awake or not, but truth be told he was a little embarrassed at where his hand was and what he suspected he'd been doing to her in his sleep. Sure, they had a healthy sex relationship, but never had his hand wandered there when they were sleeping. He didn't know why exactly, but he felt a little guilty for his actions whilst she slept. He turned red as he flexed his fingers, they were wet he noticed, and tried to _ease_ his hand out from her warm nethers. It wasn't easy, as her legs had his arm trapped. Gabriella felt his movement and spoke up,

"What are you doing?"

Troy REALLY turned red now, thinking she had woken up at his attempts to free himself, "I-I'm not sure…"

Gabriella smiled, Troy almost sounded…nervous? She hadn't heard him sound that way since they first started exploring their sexual relationship. It was kind of a relief to hear his innocence wasn't completely gone. Her momentary silence had Troy trying to explain himself further,

"I…must have been dreaming…." he was waiting for Gabriella to…to what? He didn't know. He had touched her there countless times before, this wasn't new, but maybe she'd be upset that he'd been ALL over her all weekend and seemed to be requiring a lot of sex. He knew she enjoyed herself too, but maybe she was starting to feel like he was wanting her body TOO much.

"Babe, I'm sorry-" he said as he pulled his hand out, but she clamped her legs down harder, halting his movements.

"Babe?" his voice was anxious and laced with confusion. She felt him trying to crane his neck to see her face. His nervousness had her retreating back to her own innocence. Always MUCH more hesitant in their sexual partnership than Troy it wasn't a stretch for her. Even with all that they had done together, Gabriella suddenly felt embarrassed at wanting to keep his hand there. She felt his fingers twitch with nervousness.

"I like it."

"Huh?" Troy responded. Of all the things he thought would come out of her mouth, somehow this wasn't one of them and it took him off guard.

"I like that you were touching me," she said again, and she felt her skin heat up as a blush overcame her. Troy could see the color change: was she _blushing_? Gabriella was sexy when she took over yesterday in the chair, but he found her purity even more intoxicating. Troy, no longer embarrassed himself, decided to play along – babying her,

"You do?" he said, somehow shuffling closer to her and grinding his length into her. Gabriella nodded. He started placing kisses on her neck and shoulder, and resumed playing with her folds,

"Well I like touching you," he whispered in her ear, "I dream about it constantly." His words brought another blush to her face. He rocked his pelvis into her in a rhythm as his fingers made more decisive movements in the lips of her sex. Gabriella half moaned, half sighed his name, grinding her behind into him. He nibbled on her ear as they continued, she leaned her head into his caressing mouth.

"You're so beautiful," he breathed into her ear, and she felt that same finger slide inside her wet entrance once again, but this time it was Troy who put it there. He massaged the walls just inside her as he strained his crotch into her, letting out a groan with her name,

"Gabri-_ella_." She turned her face back towards him, he shifted and before she knew it his lips were on hers. He kissed her slowly, every so often biting her bottom lip, and once he requested entrance to her mouth she rotated her shoulders towards him. He was granted access to her mouth and her rotating caused him to completely re-evalute his own position. He freed his hand from her underwear, and slipped himself atop her, supporting himself with his hands on either side of her head as she opened her legs to him to settle between. His tongue danced with hers inside her mouth, but then he broke the kiss, instead attaching his lips to her jaw and working his way down to her neck. He found her pulse point and suckled gently upon it before exploring with his teeth, lips, and tongue all the way down to where the collar of his shirt rested on the upper mound of her right breast. He traced the collar line with his mouth as his right arm came down to caress the left side of her body. She arched into his touch as she felt his hand gently sweep over the side of her left breast: he wasn't teasing her exactly, but he was building everything up. As his lips continued their work his hand found the bottom of the t-shirt and slid underneath.

Gabriella strained into his touch as he lightly ran his fingertips over her lower belly and then north across her abdomen. She thrashed her head to the side and Troy took that as invitation to explore the other side of her neck with his lips. His mouth attacked a little more aggressively this time, really delving into her soft skin. His hand now traced her ribs as they made their way up until he was lightly stroking the underside of her breast. Gabriella tried to shuffle lower, so his hand would touch her more, but he adjusted so that his feather-light touch continued to move back and forth along her breast line.

"Troy…" she begged for his hand to do more. Troy let out a chuckling breath against her neck and then kissed just underneath her ear before whispering,

"Your skin is so soft." Her back arched off the bed, trying to get what she craved. Troy dropped to his elbow of his left arm and used his now free hand to cradle her head as he simultaneously captured her lips with his and moved so his hand finally covered her breast, gripping it tightly. Finally giving her what she craved, Troy caught the moan escaping from her mouth with his. She was in heaven, as much as she loved when Troy was rough with her, she couldn't deny that there was something extra special about this too: the gentleness, the sweetness. She sighed inwardly, getting caught in the feeling of his soft, warm lips on hers until his thumb flicking her hardened nipple tore her attention elsewhere.

Troy stopped kissing her only to scoot himself lower on her body, it was then Gabriella noticed and giggled. Troy looked up to her face, her smile highlighting her glowing cheek bones – his heart melted.

"What?"

"We are still completely under the blanket," she pointed out. Troy sat up and spread his arms so that the blanket fell from around them and piled up at their feet.

"Better?"

Gabriella smiled, nodding. Troy smiled back and then brought his head down to where the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing bunched up at her stomach. He slowly caressed her skin with his hands, lifting the shirt as he went, and his lips followed on her bare skin. The muscles of her abdomen jumped every time his lips kissed her body. The hem of her shirt was now at her breast line and Troy teased the barrier with his lips. Gabriella ran her hands through his hair, repeating the motion several times before lacing her fingers in it. Troy gently bit at the underside of her breast, like he was fighting an invisible barrier, until inch by inch his soft lips moved upwards onto her mound – the t-shirt yielding to them and revealing more and more of her naked flesh until Troy's mouth latched onto her erect nipple and began to suck. The feeling sent an electric spike through her system and Gabriella let out a long moan,

"Ohhhhhhhh…."

Troy used his left hand to attend to her right breast, caressing the skin around her nipple until taking the nub between his fingers and fondling it. She let her hands run down to his shoulder and back, rubbing the bare, heated skin there. His touch was torturous to her, the anticipation was too much,

"Troy…" she called out to the boy busy nibbling on her nipple, "Troy!" she breathed and then took her hand from his back, gripped his hair and pulled his head up. Her nub slipped from his sucking mouth, making a noise.

"Yeah?" his voice hoarse with desire.

"You're driving me _crazy_."

Troy smiled devilishly at her; he knew the meaning behind her words. His lips returned to her skin, but then made their way south to her lower belly. His teeth picked up the waistband of her underwear and tugged playfully down. His hands moved over her breasts to her side, caressing the side of her mounds, before sliding down her ribs to her hips where his fingers picked at the elastic of her panties. Gabriella's hips lifted off the bed on their own accord and Troy took the opportunity to slide the fabric off her. Taking the underwear down her legs and off her feet. Troy planted kisses on her toes before running his hands up and down the smooth skin of her legs. After a few trips, his hands came up and curved inwards to the sensitive skin of her upper thighs, caressing the skin there with his thumbs. Gabriella panted in need, and Troy looked to see that she was _very_ wet, his fingers went to her slick entrance. He inwardly groaned: even though they only played on the surface of her sex, his fingers were already coated in her juices – she was dripping with desire for him. As he slide his fingers in Gabriella protested,

"Troy…I need you." She couldn't know how much those words turned him on, it sent a shockwave through his body collimating in a feeling of desire below his belt. He realized his two fingers were rather loose inside her, and it dawned on him what she meant: she was so aroused she needed HIM inside her. He reclaimed his fingers and then moved upwards to kiss her lips with his. Her hands found their way to his hips and delved her hands under the elastic, running her hands over the bare skin of his muscular and hardened behind, before sweeping back to the front and claiming him in her hands. She gently squeezed him before taking his boxers in her hands and pulling them down. Troy aided her, still kissing her, by shucking them further down and off. He broke his kiss and leaned away - Gabriella realized he was reaching for the bedside table, she caught his arm,

"Wait."

NOW she wanted to wait? He was mentally prepared at this point that he was going to make love to her and she had stopped him dead in his tracks.

"I want to _feel_ you this time."

His eyes narrowed in confusion and he cocked his head to the side a tad. She blushed as she explained further,

"I want to really _feel_ you in me." Her eyes darted down towards Troy's crotch and his eyes widened in understanding. He wasn't going to deny her, because truthfully he wore a condom mostly to ease her mind, she tended to over-think and over-worry. He too appreciated the extra peace of mind, but that benefit didn't trump the feeling he got from not wearing a condom when having sex with her. He came back to her, gave her a hard kiss on the mouth, thanking her – even though she wanted it as much as him.

He settled himself between her legs, as she wrapped her legs around his waist, linking her ankles. He reached between them and aligned his tip at her soaking entrance, he placed his hands on either side of her shoulders and then slowly eased himself forward – his tip connecting to her, getting wet as it pushed up against her entrance. He was torturing himself, he knew, as he continued to make only enough contact so that her skin only JUST started to succumb around his, but he wanted to hear it from her. He fought for breath as much as he fought for control. He looked up at Gabriella whose eyes were squinted shut and was biting hard on the corner of her bottom lip. Gabriella wondered what the hell he was doing, didn't he know how much she CRAVED him inside her, her patience wore out and she yelled at him in a high-pitched breathy voice,

"TR-" and it seemed as SOON as she opened her mouth, as SOON as he heard a noise escape her lips he slid inside her, her walls opening up to him and as she felt every inch, every vein, every ridge of his length as it drove deeper into her warmth.

"Ooooooooooy…" she finished his name in a moan. Troy too let out a groan in feeling her warm, and _very _wet walls, cling so _tightly_ to his penis. She took him completely within her, and then Troy arched his hips so he slid in even deeper. Her legs tensed around his hips and trapped him there, he, her willing prisoner – in their stillness Troy could feel her pulsating flesh surrounding his own throbbing sex. With each pulse her walls clamped down upon him, driving him wild, and his body moved without permission: gyrating deep within her. Gabriella arched her hips, pressing them closer together and made small circles around his member as he continued to gyrate. She noticed he was starting to shake, his arms, and legs, so she loosened her grip on her legs and in doing so gave Troy the freedom to pull out again. As he did he glanced down to see his impossibly hard, and throbbing member re-emerge from within her. He thought how unfeasible it was not to be able to see his penis VISIBILY pulsating because he thought sure it would. His sex was dripping with her wetness as his tip slipped out of her, before Troy, in one thrust, opened her back up and shoved deep within her. His head fell to her chest as he began sliding in and out of her, pulling almost all the way out before pushing back in. He was amazed that he hadn't exploded inside her yet with how turned on her was, but he continued to make love to her. He shifted himself, pulling his head back up; he began thrusting from a slightly different angle, hitting her in a new spot deep within.

"Oh,oh,oh,oh!" As he hit her G-Spot, Gabriella's high-pitched moans did things to Troy he'd never be able to explain, and while he fought for control, his body had other ideas. His forehead collapsed to her chest once again as their lower bodies continued to grind into one another. He was fighting for air, as his lips too let out sounds laced with pleasure, desire, and building tension. Troy quickened his pace and shortened his stroke as he thrust deep within her, over and over and over. Suddenly he felt her warm walls clamp down impossibly hard around his penis, causing him to let out a loud groan. She shuddered beneath him as she reached her climax and he felt the rush of warm wetness within her as he too reached his with a hoarse cry,

"_Gabriella…_" His seed shot out of his tip and further within her. She felt his sweaty head on her breast, his hips gyrating into her, and felt his hot breath on her skin as he grunted into her. His whole body shook as his orgasm ripped through it, and his penis released his liquid in several more spurts – each one causing him to groan into Gabriella's flesh. Until finally, he was coming down from his high and weakly thrusted into her, slowing down to a halt when he pushed deep within her once more.

Both of them lay there, breathing hard, Gabriella's hands ran up and down his back – smiling at her post high and relishing in his hot breath on her breast and still feeling him within her intimate embrace.

"That was…._amazing_," she declared while lacing her fingers through the hair on the back of his head.

"_You're_ amazing," he replied. He kissed her flesh between him and only then realized he had been laying his head on her right breast this whole time, and had just kissed the sensitive skin around her nipple. He stuck out his tongue and flicked her nipple, earning him a cute giggle from his girlfriend. He lifted his head and kissed her breast again before lightly taking her nub within his mouth and sucking for a moment before releasing it. He kissed the underside of her jaw, beckoning her to him, she obliged by turning her head down and kissing him on the lips,

"Love you, Wildcat."

"Love you more, Miss. Montez," he teased using his finger to flick the tip of her nose, earning him another high-pitched giggle.

"Impossible," she smiled wide.

Troy sighed and collapsed his head once again on her chest, he was beat – that was a lot of work. Well worth it, but he needed a recharge. His one arm was supporting a lot of his weight off Gabriella, but he used the other hand to lightly run up and down her naked torso. He paid special honor to her left breast, before continuing his trek up and down. Gabriella sighed at the feeling, glancing at the clock: it was 7:33am. She ran her hands through his damp hair in return for his gentle caresses. They both closed their eyes, starting to fall asleep. Gabriella felt his breath slow against her bosom, and she assumed he _actually_ fell asleep.

Gabriella woke with an intake of breath. Had she too fallen asleep? She glanced at the clock and realized she had, it was now 8:02am.

"Troy?"

"Hm?" a sleepy reply.

"You awake?"

"Yeah."

"We fell asleep."

Troy inhaled deeply and replied on the release, "Yeah."

"Troy?"

"Hmmm?"

"What time is your first class tomorrow?"

Troy sighed, "Uh….I don't know." He didn't want to talk about tomorrow yet with her, tomorrow meant he would be away from her – something he couldn't think about.

"Troy!" she lightly slapped his head.

"Ow, what?!" It hadn't hurt at all, but he played along.

"Yes you do!"

He sighed again, "10:20." Why did she insist on talking about this NOW, he had just woken up from a short nap and…and he just realized: while they still lay connected intimately.

"Me too!" Gabriella exclaimed with more excitement than Troy could have ever mustered when speaking about school.

"Greeeeaaat," was his very sarcastic response.

"Troooy…" he tone was reprimanding.

"I mean…" Troy raised his voice to imitate a girl, "Twinsies!" Gabriella let out a big laugh at his snarky response.

"Oh, you!" she patted his head again in mock punishment.

"Did you sleep well?" Troy asked, attempting to change the subject.

"I always sleep well when I'm with you." She paused a moment, and then began to blush before continuing, "Troy?"

"Yeah?"

"Before…when your-" she stopped, getting embarrassed again. Troy was patient, he could feel the heat of her skin and knew she must be about to ask an embarrassing question – he smiled a little thinking about how his girlfriend could go from being a sexy seducing temptress one day to shy, innocent, and cute the next.

"When…your…hand was… you said you must have been dreaming?"

Now it was Troy's turn to turn a little red, still slightly embarrassed at being caught with his hand caressing her so intimately this morning, "Yeah?"

"What did you mean?"

Troy wasn't sure where her confusion lie: it seemed pretty obvious to him what the statement meant, "Uh…well…" he cleared his throat, "You know, I was having a dream about you and I guess….I guess my hand had a mind of it's own."

"Do you remember your dream?"

"Not really…" But Gabriella could feel his length twitch inside her, like it was slightly aroused.

"You said you dream a lot about touching me?"

Troy cleared his throat again, "Yeah."

"Do you remember any of them?" she pressed.

"Gabriella…" she was killing him with this line of questioning. He realized that just like her he too could be blunt, and take control sexually at one moment and then unsure and embarrassed to talk about his sex dreams with her the next. He raised his head and looked her in the eyes, "What's with the questions."

"Just curious, Wildcat," was her innocent reply. "What happens when I'm not around?" She felt his sex balloon more within her.

Troy groaned, "Uuuugh, you're doing this on purpose!" He accused.

"No! I just…I just want to know…" she said quietly in her "cute" voice. Well, maybe she did want to know, but she always knew what her questions were doing to him – there was no way she couldn't feel his partially aroused penis within her. He couldn't help it: she had him thinking about sex…with her…all the different dreams he'd had of her and him. Of him banging into her, her screaming his name, her lips around his head, her tongue teasing his tip, him exploring every crevice of her vagina—he groaned within. And when she wasn't around? Well, what did she _think_ he did?

"Troy?"

"You don't want to know."

"Uh huh!" she said as she shifted herself, and Troy felt her walls rub up against his partially erect penis, eliciting a hiss from him. He couldn't take her torture anymore, he started to pull out, but she took her legs and wrapped them around his waist, keeping him within her.

"Gabriella…"

"I wanna know," she insisted, her eyes pleading, but he couldn't. He couldn't tell her about his fantasies, and waking up with a throbbing penis that ached for her. And he certainly couldn't tell her about how he relieved that ache. Highlights of his sex dreams, and real life sex with Gabriella flashed across his mind and he felt himself getting really turned on.

"Troy?" she questioned his silence and brought her hand to cares the side of his face. He had been looking at her, but staring off into dream land. She had felt him go hard within her, filling her up, his girth stretching her walls out. Suddenly his lips were on hers, hungry again. Troy didn't know what to do, he didn't want to just start thrusting into her…this had never happened before where he was inside and ready to go again without having to earn his way into her intimate cave. He decided he would pull out and see her reaction, her legs were still tight around him, but he could easily retreat from her – it was only as a courtesy to her that he let her think she actually had the strength to keep him there. But as his now full-erect length slid from her slick walls Gabriella surprised him: she used the legs wound around his waist as an anchor and she pulled herself off the bed and into him, forcing him once again deeper within her, making him groan, loud. Troy took that as permission.

In a split second his lips caught hers again in a searing kissing as he thrust deep within her, before pulling out and pushing back in again. His head dropped and his breath quickened against her neck, increasing the speed at which he slid back and forth within her. Troy sat up so that his hips continued to thrust and he could gaze upon the beautiful girl to which he made love. He groaned as he took in her wild hair, her shut eyes, her swollen lips, and her breasts bouncing with each time his tip struck deep within her…the sight turned him on so much and he was dangerously close.

He quickly unwound her legs from his wait and placed them on his shoulders, then took his thumb and started rubbing circles on her clit, trying desperately to bring her to his current level of arousal. Her legs up high gave Troy a new angle to push into her and, to his tightening knot's disadvantage: a clearer vantage point of his penis sliding in and out of her. He groaned as he avoided looking down again, less he came too quickly. Her hands gripped the sheet, her knuckles turning white as she arched into his touch, encouraging it. Troy was panting now, sweat glistening on his body from the effort to keep back his climax as he continued to feel his slicked penis expand her insides each time he thrust into her.

Gabriella whimpered, "Oh Troy!" He closed his eyes, _not yet, not yet, please please…_but it was no use, she did things to him no man could be expected to control,

"Baby I'm gonna—UUUuugggh" Troy's muscles tensed, his body shook, and inside her his second ejaculation exploded into her depth. He continued to thrust, and worked his thumb over time, but it was hard as the orgasm wrecked havoc on his convulsing body. Just as his thrusting had dialed down to nothing more than gyrating Gabriella's toes curled and Troy felt a warm rush of liquid and her walls pounding around him as his own sex spurted out a couple more gushes of his seed, signaling the end of his climax. He finally relaxed his thrusting and his thumb and felt her shiver and thrash beneath him after he fell on top of her, supporting himself with his forearms. He placed kisses over her flesh, soft ones, all over: on her stomach, her rib, the crease below her breast, the flesh surrounding her nipple, her nipple…he took it in his mouth and swirled his tongue around it slowly – it wasn't a sex act, just one to give her a bit of pleasure. After all, he was gaining pleasure by still feeling her quickened pulse around his penis still within her.

"Oh my god!" she let out. Troy smiled, holding her nipple in his teeth lightly. He took her nipple back into his warm mouth and sucked lightly.

"Oh my GOD, Troy!" she said again. This time Troy laughed and her nub fell from his mouth. "What just happened?!" she exclaimed.

"You're gonna kill me," Troy announced shaking his head at her, then whipping the bangs out of his eyes. She placed his hands on either side of his face and coaxed his head up, looking into his piercing blue eyes,

"How you figure?" She caressed his cheeks with her thumbs.

"Sex this good most definitely will kill a man." She giggled, and then blushed at his comment. He ducked his head again to kiss her breasts, as she kissed the top of his head, sighing. Troy's tongue circled her hardened nub before once again taking it in his mouth to lightly suck upon. He loved her breasts, oh GOD did he love her perfect supple breasts. She didn't want to interrupt his work, but she did,

"Troy?"

"Hmmmm?" He answered without releasing her, which resulted in a strange vibration that tickled her. She giggled,

"Hey that tickled!"

He took more of her breast in his mouth and hummed again, eliciting a shriek and a giggle this time. He smiled, he loved her laugh. His mouth continued to play with her as Gabriella continued,

"I'm hungry." She finished and her comment made him laugh, her nub slipped from his lips – he was not expecting her to say that of all things. He was usually the one complaining of hunger.

"And what does my girl want for breakfast?" he said looking up at her.

"Ummmm…pancakes and fruit?" she asked.

"I'm very pro pancakes and fruit," he winked at her, causing a chill to run down her spine. Troy felt her shiver,

"Cold?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No, you just drive me wild, WILDcat." She laughed, HARD, at her joke…too hard really. Troy shook his head, smirking at her.

"That was really lame…" he said as she continued to laugh. "Are you going to give _yourself_ a high-five for that one?" His remark had her laughing harder, she had the giggles.

Troy chuckled at her state, "Oh boy…"

Gabriella laughed hysterically for a few more moments before finally settling down.

"You done?" Troy smiled at her.

She nodded.

"I love your laugh." He kissed the underside of her jaw, "But I'm starving too, so…" He felt her insides contracting around him, so he finally retreated, his sex slipping from her opening. She sighed at the loss as she felt his tip drop from her entrance. Troy looked down to find himself just completely coated in sex liquids. Gabriella sat up, feeling more dripping out of her,

"Troy can you grab me a towel?"

Troy hopped off the bed and strode into the bathroom, grabbing a used towel, before coming back to the bed – wiping off his own sex as he did. Once he reached her he handed her the towel.

"Babe, I'm going to hop in the shower really quick unless you really want to go now?"

"You go – otherwise you'll have to wait forever for me."

"That's what I was thinking," he said then kissed her forehead before striding back to the bathroom.

"Love you!" she called after him.

"Love you too!" he replied as the door shut. She heard the water of the shower turn on, and then looked at the clock: 8:20. She smiled; Troy had been inside her for about an hour.

* * *

Gabriella unlocked the door to her dorm room, and stepped inside. Troy followed behind her with her bag,

"Where do you want this?" he asked.

"On the futon is fine," she replied sadly. Troy dropped the bag and then turned to his girlfriend, whose face wore misery. He strode over to her, and she bent her head down – not wanting to make eye contact with him less she started to do something stupid like cry. Troy hugged her small frame to him, kissing the top of her head, before breaking away. He bent down slightly, bringing his face to her level,

"Gabriella?" he took his index finger and placed it under her chin, coaxing her to look at him. She refused.

"Come oooon.." he cooed sweetly, and she relented, letting his finger pull her chin up and making contact with his understanding eyes. "There's my girl," he said caress her cheek with his thumb. He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent down to kiss her lips,

"Don't be so upset, love. We'll see each other." He tried to comfort her, but in truth he was just as upset as she was, if not more. She nodded and he kissed her again. He swayed them back and forth,

"Can I buy you lunch?" he asked sweetly, "Anywhere you want." This brought a smile to the otherwise sad face of his adorable girlfriend. He smiled back, "Aw…there's that smile." He kissed each corner of it.

"So, how about it?"

"That sounds nice," she replied.

"Good," he said kissing her nose, "It's a date."

* * *

The pair sat across from each other in the café, munching on their lunch. Gabriella thought about their amazing, and eventful weekend. In the end she and Troy had both thanked Scott profusely for his hospitality, for his help, and for everything. Gabriella had exchanged numbers and emails with Emily,

"Us Bear girlfriends gotta stick together right?" she had told Gabriella before giving her a hug.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Troy asked across from her.

Gabriella sighed, "Just thinking about this weekend."

Troy smiled, "Did you have fun?"

"I did!" she smiled.

"Good."

"And I KNOW you did – you learned to surf finally!"

Troy chuckled, "Yeah…but mostly I was just happy to spend time with you." He winked at her.

"So…" Gabriella started.

"So." Troy replied.

"What's your schedule like?"

"I have no idea…I'll have to check."

"Really? NO idea?" she didn't believe him.

He sighed, "Well..class tomorrow at 10:20…then other classes during the week, and a few practices – coach wants to give us time to get settled into classes." He took a bite of his sandwich and swallowed, "I think I have Friday's off – from class that is."

"Really? How'd you manage that?"

Troy shrugged one shoulder, taking another bite of his sandwich, "Beats me."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and let out an amused breath, "You're crazy, Wildcat."

He smiled his million-dollar smile at her, "You love it."

"What about you, Miss. Montez?"

Gabriella took in a deep breath before letting it go, "Well… I have Administrative Law Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 10:20a to noon. Then my writing course Monday, Wednesday 12:40p to 2:30. Then-"

"Whoa." Troy cut her off, though he wasn't surprised she could recite her entire schedule from memory, "I'm not going to remember any of this…email it to me." He finished off his sandwich.

"Okay, email yours too then…and all your practices and all that too."

"Your wish is my command," he replied while eyeing her salad, "Are you going to eat that strawberry?"

Gabriella looked down at the forgotten sweet morsel, and shrugged, "You can have it if you want."

"Only if you don't want it."

Gabriella shrugged before Troy reached across the table to pick up the red berry. But instead of putting it in his own mouth, he brought it up to her lips, she smiled and took a bite of the juicy fruit. Troy plopped the other half into his mouth, smiling at her. He took her hand across the table in his, bringing it up to his mouth and kissing her palm,

"I love you." His baby blues staring into her chocolate brown eyes.

"I love you too, Wildcat."

* * *

Troy opened the passenger side of his truck, and lent his hand to Gabriella who took it and slide off the seat and onto the ground. She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tight, he returned her embrace but chuckled,

"Not so fast, I'm walking you to your room aren't I?"

She pulled back, "Oh…I guess."

He smiled down at her, then leaned in to kiss her cheek, "Of course I am." He laced their fingers together, leading the way to the building.

They waited at the elevators for it to reach the floor.

"Explain to me why we took the stairs when I first got here?" Troy turned towards her.

"It's good exercise!" she smiled.

"Oh, because that's something I am missing in my life?" Troy hedged.

"You said it," was he reply. Troy grabbed her from behind, his arms wrapping around her body and picking her off the ground – she squealed,

"Troy!"

He lowered her back to the ground and put his face next to hers, "You think you're so smart."

She giggled, holding on to his arms with her small hands, "I AM smart."

Troy turned his head and kissed her hair, "True." The elevator doors opened and the pair stepped in, and as the doors were closing an arm darted in the space, causing the doors to re-open.

"Oh, hey Gabriella!" The boy said as he stepped in.

"Shor! I almost didn't recognize you with your glasses! How was your weekend?" she asked.

"Yeah…not wearing my contacts…" he indicated towards his frames covering his green eyes, " My weekend was good, spent it with my brothers and sister, yours?"

"Mine was great! Troy took me to this amazing mansion on the ocean in Malibu," she said cocking her head to the left indicating Troy, "This is my boyfriend, Troy – he goes to Berkeley. And Troy this is Shor – we had Civil Procedures class together and he lives in this dorm too."

Shor stuck out his hand and Troy shook it, "Nice to meet you, 'Shore' is it?"

"Haha – yeah, my parents were trying to come up with something original and that began with S…all my siblings are S's."

"Let me see if I can remember: Samuel, Saoirse ("sure-sha"), Sean, Shane….Scott…Spencer, and….." Gabriella listed them.

"Sawyer," Shor finished for her.

"That's right! Sawyer!"

"Wow… how many is that?" Troy asked.

"7 brothers, 1 sister – all a year apart, I'm the youngest."

"Dang! That's a lot of kids!" Troy said as the elevator doors opened and they all stepped out.

"Yeah – it's a blast. Well it was good seeing you Gabriella, and nice meeting you Troy. Hopefully we have classes together this semester Gabs." He gave a smile and then took off for the hallway on the opposite side of the building as hers. As he walked off Troy sized him up: about the same height as Troy, shaggy blonde hair, skinny, but with some muscle to him. Hmm. Gabriella pulled Troy towards her hallway and pulled out her keys.

"What kind of name is 'Shor'?"

Gabriella glanced back at him as she fit her key into the lock and opened the door, "I think it's a cute name."

"Or weird."

Gabriella shut the door behind them as she gave Troy an un-amused look, and Kinley peered from around the corner interrupting them,

"Hey you guys! Have fun?"

"Hey! Yeah, it was a blast: sailing, surfing, swimming…I'll fill you in later. What did you do this weekend?"

"Nothing much, hung out with those two," she said throwing her thumb towards the wall they shared with their suitemates.

"Fuuuuun…" Gabriella replied giving her a knowing look. As if on cue they heard movement and the bathroom door swung open,

"Oh my god! You guys are back!" Liene exclaimed sliding past Troy in the small entryway.

"Heeeey!" Sarah greeted as she came to stand against the wall right by Troy's right shoulder…standing awfully close to him. He gave her a polite, or maybe it read as 'uncomfortable', smile as he leaned towards Gabriella,

"Hey – how's it goin?" Troy asked.

"Great! I'm glad we got to see you again!" Sarah was positively giddy. She put her hand on his shoulder, "We were about to grab a late lunch, wanna join?"

Troy tried to shy away from the contact, but didn't want to seem like he was trying to get away from her, "We just ate."

"Aw nuts!" Liene replied from just in front of him. Troy felt cornered as he shuffled towards Gabriella, who was up against the wall to his left. He gripped her hand tightly in his, begging for her assistance.

"Guys quit crowding them!" Kinley laughed out. Thank God for Kinley, Troy thought as they made a little space between them and him.

"He's actually headed out – he was just walking me up," Gabriella informed them, squeezing his hand back in sympathy.

"Oh nooo! We were hoping we could all spend time together – get to know you Troy!" Sarah pouted.

"Nnno can do today, sorry. Got to get back," Troy almost had said "Next time" but didn't want to make that promise.

"Darn!" Liene and Sarah said in unison – causing Troy to give them a weird look: who were these girls?

Gabriella half-rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Come on Troy." She pulled him by his hand back towards the door.

"Good seeing you again Troy!" Kinley called.

Troy halted, turned, "You too!" he smiled. Then without warning Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug,

"Come back soon!"

Troy's eyes widened in shock, and he brought one hand up to pat lightly, and awkwardly, on her upper back. She released him and Gabriella pulled him roughly out the door into the hall. She was laughing when Troy turned on her,

"Why are you laughing?!" They spoke in hushed voices.

"Because – you didn't believe me when I told you about them."

"So your way of getting back at me is to let them assault me?"

"They weren't _assaulting_ you Troy," she giggled.

"Still…that was waaay awkward," he said looking back at the now closed door before turning back to her, "You're mean." He joked.

"You love me."

Troy encircled her in his arms as he brought her into his chest, breathing in her scent, "So help me, yes…very much so."

She giggled again, before falling silent.

"Gonna miss you," she said quietly into his chest.

"Me too," he said squeezing her tighter, trying to memorize this feeling.

She pulled back, craning her neck upwards – he kissed her lips tenderly, "I love you, sweetheart."

"I love you too, Troy," she said kissing him again. His arms unwrapped from her and his hands came up to cradle her face. He kissed her forehead,

"Good luck in school."

"You too," she said. "Call me when you get back to your apartment okay?"

"Of course," he kissed her nose this time. "Okay…" he sighed and leaned down to kiss her again before pulling her into a really tight hug that pulled her off the ground. He set her down, and released her as she took a small step back. He put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her head towards him, he placed a kiss on her forehead, then left his lips there as he spoke

"We'll find the time Gabriella – we'll see each other, you'll see," he took in her scent before kissing her forehead again. She nodded, sadly. She was breaking his heart – he hated to see her so sad. And honestly, his heart ached just as much for the same reason hers did. He coaxed her chin up, placing one more kiss to her lips,

"Love you."

"Love you," she replied in a small voice.

"Alright…I should go," he leaned down, gave her a kiss on the cheek and walked away, her hand stretching out, linked with his, until he was too far and their fingers unlaced – her arm falling to her side.

"See you _soon_," he said turning around and walking backwards, "I love you, Gabriella."

"Love you, Wildcat," she replied, he gave a smile before he disappeared around the corner and was gone – for how long they would be separated this time Gabriella didn't know. She finally let her eyes well up with tears at the loss of his warmth, of his scent, of his voice, of his company. She had worked very hard to contain herself in front of Troy, she knew how it wrecked him inside to see her cry. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she hugged herself, putting her hands where Troy's had been not 2 minutes ago, she missed his touch already. Her phone buzzed in her pocket,

_Text Message from Troy Bolton_

_Miss you already, sweetheart. :*  
Ps. Please don't cry_

* * *

**AN:**

**So i went a little crazy with the intimate scenes - but who knows when the next time they'll be together right?! So I had to give them and you guys a little extra somethin somethin. ;)**

**I'm not exactly sure where I want to go from here - so it might be a little bit before the next update while I try to find inspiration. Any and ALL suggestions are welcome! :) As well as your thoughts and criticisms! Thank you again to those of you who reviewed! It really is a main reason I have been so quick to update with new chapters! So thank you!**

**Hope you enjoyed!  
Kenzie**


	11. Auditions, S's, and Grumps!

**_THANK YOU_**** for all the wonderful reviews guys! You guys have no idea how much you help put a fire under my ass to push through the times when I'm feeling less than inspired. :) I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter, I did too! It's one of my favorites I think.**

**To the person that suggested they live together: That's actually something I've been contemplating myself, and it will come eventually! :)  
And I'm very much appreciate the encouraging words of everyone else!**

**They are apart for this whole chapter :(**

**-MK James**

* * *

"…you end up like Dallas…and I don't mean dead, either. I mean like he was before. And that's worse than dead. Please, don't fight anymore…" the medium-height boy with brown eyes and a baby face finished. The group of students applauded politely, just had they had with the previous 10 boys' auditions. Troy sat, running through the lines in his head – he was in his second week of classes and, as the counselor promised, about to audition for the privilege to be in the Theater School. He hadn't had much time to rehearse himself, what with everything else going on in his life. Truthfully, he'd only gotten through the monologue a few times all the way without forgetting a line or messing up. His knee bounced up and down nervously as the professor got up in front of the class,

"Who would like to give positive feedback about Gale's performance?" he looked to the group of about 37 kids. Everyone looked around at one another, Gale's performance wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't "good" either. A girl in the front row slowly brought up her hand.

"Yes?" the teacher pointed at her.

"He…knew all his lines really well," she tried.

"Yes, he did…" the teacher seemed disappointed in the comment, but no one else was raising their hand, "Okay, one constructive criticism?" This time a few hands slowly raised into the air and the teacher called upon a lanky boy sitting behind Troy,

"Honestly…I didn't believe it. The Outsiders is about this brotherly bond, and Soda, who has already been through hell, wants nothing more than his family to be a _family_ – he's begging for it... and I just didn't feel it." Other students nodded in agreement. Before the professor nodded his thanks, and Gale took a seat.

"Alright…next is….. Troy Bolton." He looked up from his sheet, "Troy?" Troy took a steadying breath, stood up and walked to the front of the class, PRAYING he wouldn't flub up the lines. The boys in the class had been assigned the monologue from the book The Outsiders in which Sodapop Curtis breaks down in front of his 2 brothers Darry and Ponyboy, after another one of their many many fights. Soda was the 17-year-old, middle brother to a family who lost their parents in an accident, the oldest brother Darry worked long hours to keep the brothers together on his meager pay. They lived on the wrong side of the tracks, and two of their friends just died: one right in front of their eyes was shot down. Needless to say, Troy could relate to none of it. Though he supposed that was the point, the professor had chosen it thinking most people wouldn't be able to relate and therefore he'd see what kind of real acting chops they had.

Troy stepped up to the front and cleared his throat.

"Whenever you're ready Troy," the professor told him. Troy took a deep breath, let it out and then began,

"I-I don't know. It's just…I can't stand to hear y'all fight. Sometimes…I just, I just gotta get out or…or it's like I'm the middleman in a tug o' war and I'm being split in half. Ya dig?" Troy looked down at his toes, kicking invisible dirt, "I mean, I can't take sides. It'd be a lot easier if I could, but…but I mean I see both sides! Darry yells too much and takes everything-"

Shit. That's not right...he'd missed something, but without skipping a beat Troy improvised, "everything too serious…you try too hard man." He paused both for effect and to get his bearings, "And-and Ponyboy..you you just don't think enough, you don't realize all Darry's giving up JUST to give you a chance HE missed out on. He coulda stuck you in a home somewhere and worked his way through college. And Pony…I'm telling ya the truth: I dropped out because I'm dumb. I really tried in school, but you saw my lousy grades. Look, I'm happy workin' in a gas station-you'd never be happy doin' somethin' like that! And Darry…you oughtta try to understand him more…he feels things differently than you do." Tears welled up in Troy's eyes and his voice caught as he spoke again, "Golly, you two…it's bad enough…." he took a quivering breath, "bad enough havin' to listen to it, but when y'all start tryin' to make me take sides…." A noise came from the back of Troy's throat – a noise signifying the tears that threatened to spill over, "We're all we got left. We gotta stick together against everything. If we don't have each other –" he paused, swallowing loudly, a tear falling, "we don't…we don't have anything. And if you don't have anything you end up like Dallas…and I don't mean dead either I mean like he was before and that's worse than dead. Please," Troy sniffled, wiping his arm across his face, smearing the tear away, before delivering his last line with such a heart-breaking tone, his voice breaking, "don't fight anymore."

The kids were all silent, Troy looked out at the faces, trying to decide if they were confused or…no…they seemed to be stunned, mouths agape. The professor cleared his throat and that shook everyone to their senses: everyone started clapping, loudly and with much more appreciation than any of the previous auditions. The professor stood up,

"Well…any positive feedback for Troy?" Several hands shot up immediately and the professor pointed to a boy who had auditioned 2nd, and to Troy's memory was actually quite good.

"Man…that-that blew me away. It completely took me out of this room, he sucked me into his world. The energy, the tension, everything radiating off his performance changed the whole mood – it was palpable. You completely killed it man." That last bit was the first comment someone made directly to a performer Troy realized, everyone else had talked about the performer as if he wasn't there. Troy nodded and lifted one corner of his mouth in thanks.

"He made me want to give him a big hug," a girl called out, out of turn, "Even though I knew it was fake, it seemed like he was in so much pain," she frowned. Others laughed at her comment as the professor spoke again,

"Constructive criticism?" It was like the opposite of all the other auditions, everyone looked at one another, searching for something NEGATIVE to say. The same girl who gave the positive comment about Gale raised her hand,

"Well…I guess he messed up the lines…" The professor nodded in agreement, but the girl paused for adding, "But…he improvised so well, I think he made it a positive. We only knew he flubbed because we knew the line…and you could tell he knew he flubbed because he added the line he skipped back in…but even though he knew he messed up he didn't let it faze him. I thought that was impressive."

"Impressive indeed," the professor agreed.

* * *

Gabriella sat in the study room staring at her book, but not reading it, glancing at her phone every 5 seconds. A laugh from across the room tore her attention away and she looked up to see Shor on the other side of the room, surrounded by books. When did he get here?

"Sorry," he explained chuckling again, "My brother Shane just sent a REALLY funny picture of Sawyer passed OUT on a plane."

"Oh," Gabriella replied. Before she could say anything more Shor shot first,

"So what's up with you? You don't seem very relaxed over there."

Gabriella laughed, "Well…I guess you could say that… Troy, my boyfriend remember?"

Shor nodded remembering the guy he met in the elevator.

"He is auditioning today to get into the Theater School."

"Ahhhh…yeah, auditions are kind of nerve racking," he said as if speaking from experience.

Gabriella smiled, but shook her head, "You're a pre-law student…what are you auditioning for?"

"Me? Nothing. But a few of my brothers are actors – and, especially when we were younger, they'd go to SO many auditions and I remember what it was like for them."

"Really? I didn't know that!" Gabriella said, standing up and walking across the room to join Shor at his table.

Shor sighed, "Yeaaaah…only Sawyer is working right now, but the rest of them are doing music, so they are occupied."

"So your whole family is in the entertainment industry? What happened with you?" she teased. This was the perfect distraction she needed while she waited to hear from Troy.

"Haha – well not all, just 6 of them are in the band, Spencer is in school for Athletic Training, and then me of course."

"You guys didn't want to be in the family band?"

"I was when I was younger, but when I was 14…some things changed and I decided it wasn't a path I wanted to stay on."

"What changed?"

"There was a record deal in talks, and so it was no longer just having fun playing with my brothers and sister – it was going to be my future."

"Holy crap! Do they have albums out and stuff? What's the name?"

"Yeah, they do…SPark 6…" he paused before explaining, "S because of our names and then Park because our last name is Parker and then 6 for the 6 people. It was SPark 7 before…"

"Your last name is Parker?"

He nodded. Gabriella thought for a moment, before her mouth dropped open in her realization,

"Your brother is Sawyer Parker… from that TV show, what's it called…"

"Tommy & Tilly."

"Yeah! It's kind of a teen, young-adult show right?"

"Yeah."

Gabriella had maybe seen an episode…Sawyer played one of the main characters, Tommy Dean, "You and your brother look A LOT alike." She noted.

Shor sighed and then chuckled lightly, "Yeah…we all do. When we were younger we were all these 8 blonde children running around, all S names, _and_ our mom dressed us up alike too. People thought we were all some combination of multiples." Shor's own blonde hair was mostly covered by a beanie that flopped on his head.

"That's funny!"

"Yeah…being so close in age it was hard to tell when we were so small. But now Scott and Spencer's hair darkened to a brown so it's not as striking anymore when we're all together."

"Who looks the most alike?"

"Uhhh…_now_ it's probably Sawyer and me…. But when we were little Sam could put on a wig and look EXACTLY like Shursh." He chuckled.

"Aw..that's cute! - Do you miss being in the band?"

He sighed as he considered this, "I miss my brothers and my sister – I mean they are my best friends…I've shared a room with Sawyer my whole life."

"Wow…that must be hard being away from them."

"Yeah…you have no idea – spending every single day with them. And now… I settle for text messages, video chats, and phone calls….and tweets! Haha.. It's weird." He frowned, thinking about it.

"So you're all a year apart, so if you're 18-"

"I'm 17."

"17?" Gabriella asked, surprised.

"Yeah…homeschooling…graduated a year early. I don't turn 18 until next July."

"Wow…so…You're 17, making Sawyer 18-"

"No, he's 17 too actually, his birthday is this weekend. We are 10 and a half months apart."

"Whoa! That's really close! Is he the sibling you're closest to?"

"Uhhhh…I guess…maybe…I dunno…it's hard to say because we are ALL so tight."

"Who is the closest in age? You two?"

"Nah, we aren't quite as close as Sean and Shane, they are almost exactly 10 months apart…they beat Sawyer and me by like 19 days. But they cheated: Sean was late and Shane was a whole month early. Everyone else is slightly over a year apart: Samuel is 25 almost 26, Saoirse (Sure-sha) is 24, Sean is 22, Shane is 21 almost 22, Scott is 20, Spencer is 19, Sawyer is almost 18, and then I'm 17."

"Your poor poor mother," Gabriella shook her head, eyes wide.

Shor laughed, "Yeah…people always think we are Amish or something…but, my mom and dad just wanted their kids to be close in age, and…I guess, wanted a lot of kids."

"I guess so! Sheesh! And you're Shor, the baaaaabyyyy!" Gabriella teased.

"Yeaaaah…but it doesn't really feel like it since we are so close in age. Though…they do refer to me as their 'Baby Brother' in interviews – so I guess they see me that way."

"I don't have any siblings…but I also don't think I'd want to have 7 brothers….that would be crazy."

Shor smiled, and then chuckled to himself, "Yeah…but Shursh grew up with us, so to her it's just normal."

Gabriella gave a doubtful look, "I guess…but I bet she doesn't appreciate 7 protective brothers when she's trying to date!"

He laughed at this, "No…I suppose not… but the only one of us that is REALLY over-protective is Sam…but he's the oldest, she's his baby sister…it's expected," he said before switching gears, "So Troy wants to be an actor?"

Gabriella took a deep breath, she had had almost 10 minutes of distraction from worrying about Troy's audition, "He doesn't know…he just loves performing and loves basketball-" she paused, she, up until this conversation, had held off on telling people Troy was on the basketball team. But, she figured since Shor was telling her about his family who was much more 'famous' than Troy it was level playing ground, "He's on the team at Berkeley."

"Wow-that's cool!

"Yeah," she sighed.

"You don't seem convinced."

"Well, between his school, the team, and my schooling we don't get to see each other much. It's hard. I know he's doing what he loves, and I'm happy for him, but…when he's not around I just feel like…"

"A part of you is missing," Shor finished.

"Exactly." That was precisely how she felt, without Troy around it was as if everything was touched with gray.

Shor nodded, "I don't have a girlfriend I'm separated from, but I do have 7 best friends…so I figured I can relate." He smiled in understanding, "You guys will figure it out – my mom always told us something when we were younger and had just started playing small shows, at birthday parties, fairs, you name it…She would tell us, 'If it's meant to be, it will be…life has a beautiful and wonderful way of working itself out.' She was talking about our success as a band, but, I think it applies here too."

Gabriella smiled, "I like that." The words comforted her, because she KNEW Troy and her were meant to be together, so…they would find a way to do so. "Your mom sounds like a smart lady."

Shor nodded, "She is. She's the best."

"So what did you play in the band?" Gabriella couldn't help herself; she was intrigued about this family band of S's.

"Well…when I first joined I was only 12…so I played percussion instruments…but when I turned 13/14 I played acoustic rhythm guitar."

"Does everyone play an instrument?"

"No, Sawyer sings, and dances a bit. He CAN play, but he's better to entertain the crowd as a lead singer."

"Sawyer is the lead singer as the youngest? AND he's on a tv show? He must be pretty talented."

"Ha! Yeah…and he knows it too! I dunno how he juggles it all to be honest…"

"I can't imagine having so many siblings, do you guys fight?"

Shor scrunched his nose and shrugged a shoulder, "Eh…not really. Every once in a while, but it's always over with quickly and we're back to crackin' jokes and chillin'. I love it…you always have someone to turn to, a whole team supporting you, people that have known you your whole life and know you better than yourself. We just gel: Samuel is the leader: responsible, understanding, super positive, but kinda dorky, Saoirse is the girl and has a heart of gold, Sean is sooo funny, Shane is a prankster and a giant goofball, Scott is kinda quiet but is hilarious, Spencer is shy and athletic, Sawyer…well…Sawyer is… on his own planet, and SUPER creative…we're all different but the same." He smiled.

Gabriella grinned as she listened to Shor speak about his family; it made her want a big family like his – with Troy. Troy would be a great dad, so fun and loving. She even though the names idea was cute.

"And you?" she asked, waiting for him to describe himself.

"Me? Well…they all say I'm the brainiac." Gabriella's phone rang then, interrupting them,

"Oh! It's Troy!" She rushed away while answering, while Shor motioned for her to 'go ahead.'

"Troy?" Gabriella answered, her voice thick with both anxiousness and excitement.

"Heeeey baby, it's nice to hear your voice."

Gabriella was impatient and wasted no time in asking the burning question, "SO?!"

"So what?"

"Troy! You know what! How did the audition go?! Did you get in?!" she spoke a million miles a minute.

"Uh…" Troy's tone wasn't very enthused and Gabriella's face dropped.

"What happened?"

"Well…I mean, I flubbed the lines - more than once-"

"Oh nooo!" Gabriella lamented.

"Yeah…no bueno," Troy's voice still down.

"And they didn't let you in for that?" Gabriella complained, he voice trying to be comforting. How could they not let him in?! Now Gabriella thought back to all the times in the past week and a half that Troy spent hours with her on the phone and he COULD have been rehearsing, and memorizing her lines. She felt terrible.

"No, I got in," Troy responded simply. His reply was unexpected and took Gabriella off guard. Did she hear him right?

"Huh?"

"Babe…I got in!" Troy exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" she screamed, jumping up and down, "THAT'S AMAZING!" Troy laughed on the other end. But then Gabriella stopped jumping, and a stern look came to her face, "TROY MICHAEL BOLTON! WHY! Did you make me think you hadn't got in!?"

Troy chuckled, "Sorry babe, but I mean…I MUST be a good actor, I had you fooled!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes and scoffed, "That wasn't very nice…" She tried to sound serious, but failed at her attempt to fool him.

"Aw…I love youuuu."

"Uh huh, " she said, still trying to 'punish' him. "Did you really mess up your lines?"

"Ooooh yeah." He paused before adding, "Buuuuut…everyone thought I recovered really well, and people seemed to think I did a great job. The professor told me my performance was 'believable, heart felt, inspired, and very moving' right before he told me I got in."

"Troy that's wonderful! Inspired huh? You must have really sold it!"

Troy shrugged, "They thought so."

"I'm so proud of you! Congratulations!" Her face beamed.

"Thanks – I was super nervous."

"Meh…You work well under pressure," she smiled into the phone.

"I guess. So how has _your_ day been?"

"Good," she sighed as she took a seat on the floor in the hall outside the door of the study room. "Just had class, and was trying to study unsuccessfully."

"Why unsuccessfully?"

"Because I was waiting to hear from you!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, I see."

"Yeah, but then- do you remember that guy Shor you met?"

"Yeah…blondie," Troy's voice was even.

"Yeah – him. He was in the study room with me-"

"You guys were studying together?"

"No – he was just in there too, on the other side of the room. But we got to talking and guess what?"

"What?"

"His brother is Sawyer Parker."

"Who?"

"Sawyer Parker – he's an actor on tv."

"Cool…" Troy said, but with uncertainty as to why he was hearing this information.

"Isn't that awesome? I mean…if you wanted to pursue acting, he could be a person to give you pointers and stuff."

"Gabi….I don't even know him."

"But you COULD…he's Shor's older brother, and they are really close."

"Yeah…except I don't know Shor either…Babe, I hear what you're saying, but whatever I am going to do it's going to be way off in the future. I'm not thinkin' about it now."

"But…IF you decided to do acting…it's SOMETHING isn't it?"

Troy sighed, "Yeah, I guess." He said this mostly to placate her and get her off the subject.

"Oh! AND 6 of his siblings are in a band together called SPark 6!"

"SPark 6? I think maybe I've heard the name before…" Troy racked his brain as Gabriella continued to babble,

"Yeah, S because of their S names, Park for Parker, and 6 for 6 members. Shor was in the band but then dropped out when they got signed to a label so he could-"

"Did this Shor guy tell you his life story or what?" Troy questioned, he wasn't exactly amused by this Shor guy. He wouldn't say he was 'jealous' per se…but his girl around a guy, who Troy had to admit, was attractive, wasn't going to go un-checked by Troy.

"No – not his life story. Just about his siblings and how they are all best friends - they are TOO adorable."

"Or…kind of freaky."

"Troy! That's not very nice." This time the seriousness in Gabriella's tone was real. Why was he being all…jerky? "How is that freaky?"

"I dunno, 8 kids is a lot."

"So? Doesn't make it freaky. What's up with you?" she questioned him.

"Nothin'"

"Somethin'" Gabriella corrected, indicating she knew he wasn't being truthful.

Troy sighed, "I dunno babe, it's just hard knowing you're hanging out with some guy."

Gabriella's eyes widened in surprise, "Troy…it's not-"

"I know," he interrupted. He knew she would never ever cheat on him, and that their relationship was solid, but it didn't mean he wasn't envious that some other guy got to spend time with his cute, loving, sweet, wonderful girlfriend instead of him. Some other guy got to admire her silky hair, or see how she bites her lip when she's thinking or anxious, and notice as her eyes dance when she laughs - ooooh that infectious giggle of hers was to die for. "It's not THAT….but…I dunno – I just miss you."

Gabriella's face softened and she smiled a small smile, "I miss you too, Wildcat. SO much." She paused before adding, "But…Shor is just cool guy who helped to distract me while I waited anxiously for my super talented, amazingly handsome, and superbly adorable boyfriend to call and tell me how his audition went."

Troy sighed, "I just wish I was there with you."

"Me too, Troy."

"And nooooow I gotta go. Practice." Troy's voice sounded slightly frustrated.

"How's it been with Durrell?"

Troy rolled his eyes, truthfully it had been kind of a struggle. As much as Troy wanted to let it go it was hard for him, and it didn't improve the situation any that his teammates couldn't help but tell the story over and over again in the locker room, even at the protest of team captain Scott. It was particularly awkward for Troy because he is a point guard: the one running the plays and distributing the ball…he resented every time he set Durrell up for a big play and Durrell whooped and hollered – praising himself. But, he wasn't going to make Gabriella think she had caused a problem. Even though she was completely innocent he knew his girlfriend wouldn't be able to help but feel somewhat responsible – like she got in the middle of team unity.

"It's alright, we're moving past it."

"Good, that's good."

"Yeah. We'll talk later tonight?"

Gabriella bit her lip, "I've got a study group…"

"Oh."

"But we'll be done around 10pm…"

"I've got an early tutoring session tomorrow – 6am."

"Tutoring?"

"Mandatory for all athletes – help us keep up with our studies I guess."

"You still have to send me your schedule with everything."

"I don't know everything Gabriella, I've told you this," he almost sounded annoyed.

"Well send me what you DO know then, better something then nothing," she retorted flatly.

"Alright."

"Thank you."

"Sure."

"What's wrong with you? Shouldn't you be happy after your great news?" she asked.

"Nothin'…I am happy…I'm just tired and thinking about the 3 hour practice, and waking up early tomorrow, and I really miss you."

"I miss you too."

"I gotta go, I love you."

"Love you too, Wildcat. Have fun at practice."

"I'll try – good luck studying."

"Thanks, bye Troy."

"Talk to you later, babe."

* * *

It was Saturday morning and Gabriella sat at her desk, reading the email Troy had sent her at 4am. She was upset when she found out they wouldn't be able to get together this weekend – Troy had all sorts of team events and requirements to get done. His free time was on Sunday, when Gabriella had a tutoring session of her own: except SHE was the tutor. It brought her a little money, and helped her solidify information in her own head. She examined Troy's schedule:

**Writing - MWTh 10:20a – 12:10p, Section Tu 11:30-12:30p**

**History - MW 3p-5p**

**Intro to Acting - Tu 10:20a – 12p, Th 2-4:20p**

**Intro to Stage Prod – WTh 8:30a-10:15a**

**For at least next week:**

**Practice WF 5a-7a, MWF 6:30p-9:30p,**

**Weight Training TuTh 6:30p-8:30p**

**Tutoring: TuTh 6a-7a**

**Then this weekend:**

**Morning practice followed by shooting some stuff for player graphics or something, I don't really know. Then we have a pre-season press interview in the afternoon followed by a team dinner.**

**And I realized the student section camp out is next weekend. We should just find a place halfway between and move there – at this rate I'll see you at Thanksgiving.**

**Love you sweetheart, and miss you so much,**

**Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo Troy**

Gabriella groaned, "Nooooo…." She wasn't going to see him next weekend either?! She read his message again…it seemed so sad, so resigned to the circumstances surrounding their inability to see each other. Her heart ached for him, and then wondered if he was serious about moving together. It would mean a 20-30 minute commute for both of them, but maybe he had a point: their schedules might force them to if they ever wanted to see each other. Gabriella rested her chin on her hand, frowning, she missed her boy.

* * *

Troy was early for Friday night practice, thankfully he had Fridays off from school so he could relax, do some homework, and then show up to the gym at 3pm to work on his game. Troy entered through the tunnel, passing through the door leading inside and past the security guard,

"Hey Phil," he greeted the gentleman he'd come to know and recognize.

"Troy," he nodded to him, "Getting in early again today I see?"

"Yeah….we got the Camp Out tomorrow, so I figured I'd put in some extra time today. How's your daughter?"

"She's doin fine, feeling much better."

"Good!" he smiled, "I'll see ya, have a good one."

"You too, Bolton."

Troy entered the vacant locker room and went to his locker space: now that they did the video and picture graphics last weekend there was a large stylized action shot of Troy dribbling through his legs in his uniform placed above his locker cubby space. Next to the photo read his name and number: Troy Bolton #11. As a freshmen Troy had last dibs on numbers, the older players had selected their numbers from years previous of course and Jeremy Kent was already #14. It was pure luck if any of them had their numbers from high school, just happened that they weren't claimed when they were freshmen. Troy didn't mind 11, it was adjacent to Scott Saracen's who wore 12. Troy dressed in his practice jersey, and then debated which shoes he wanted to wear: Nike supplied the team with all sorts of gear, and shoes were one of the many things in endless supply. There were about 5 different styles of shoes in their team colors, and Troy had taken a liking to 2 in particular. He reached for his newer pair, he had to break them in. He laced up, palmed the ball and trotted his way to the door, opening it right into,

"Ow!" Troy heard, and then a shuffle of a body hitting the floor, he peeked around the door – his face with a look of guilt and regret. He looked down and saw there lay a girl, holding a rather large camera to her chest.

"Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry!" he said putting the ball down and leaning over her, "Are you okay?"

The girl glanced up at him around the camera, "Not really – you just smashed my face and an expensive camera with the door you came barreling out of."

"Sorry!" he said again, offering his hand, "Here let me help you." She gripped the camera handle with her left hand and grabbed Troy's right hand with hers. He hoisted her up,

"How's your face?" Troy guiltily asked.

"You tell me…" she said turning her face upwards towards him – she couldn't be taller than 5'3'' and was such a tiny little thing with light brown hair and ice blue eyes.

"Uhhh.." Troy visually inspected her face, and then frowned when he realized she had a bloody nose, "You…your nose." She touched the skin under her nose and looked at her fingers to see blood,

"Great." She sighed and put the camera she was holding down on the ground.

"Sorry…hold on, don't go anywhere, " Troy turned back to the locker room door as she replied shortly,

"Yes, go grab a towel, boy who crashes through doors."

Troy ignored her less-than-polite comment and ran to go grab some towels. He then stopped by the ice cooler and put some in a bag, before returning and handing her the towel,

"Here."

"Thanks." She said as she placed the towel to her nose.

"I'm so sorry again…" she didn't respond so Troy tried again, "I'm on the basketball team and-"

"I know, and I don't care."

Troy was taken aback by her snarkiness, "Sorry...uh…what's your name?"

"Riker."

"Rye-ker?"

"Yeah, Riker."

"Is that like…your last name?" Troy asked slowly.

She sighed with exasperation, "No, 'Ones', it's my FIRST name – my mother is a huge Star Trek fan, I'm her only spawn, and so I got landed with a boy name."

"Wow…that's-"

"I don't want to talk about it." She pulled the towel away from her face and then dabbed it a couple times, "Still bleeding?" she turned her nose towards Troy.

"I don't think so," Troy said shaking his head, "Here, trade." His hand held out the ice to her. She eyed it, then took it, giving him the towel.

"Ice…nice thinking Ones. There's hope for you yet."

Troy looked down at his practice jersey, at the 11 on his chest – double 'ones'. "My name's Troy." He stuck out his hand to her, she regretfully shook it. "Look…Riker…I'm really sorry, it was an accident." He didn't know why she was being so…rude. I mean, he DID hit her with a door and give her a bloody nose, but it was an honest accident. Maybe she was screwing with him because he was a basketball player?

She smiled a sly smile at him, what did that mean? "Thanks for the ice…see ya around Ones." And she picked up the camera and walked off, leaving a baffled Troy looking after her. What on earth?

"Sorry!...Again…" Troy called after her, without looking she waved her hand with the ice at him as she disappeared around a corner. Well THAT was bizarre.

* * *

Gabriella glanced at the clock, it was 7pm and Troy was at practice. She sighed, closing the law book she was reading. She couldn't study any more, Kinley was out, she wasn't going to hang out with the two next door. Then her phone rang,

"Taylor!"

"Hey girl! How are you?!"

"I'm good, how are you?! How's Yale!?"

"I LOVE it! The classes are amazing, the boys are cute AND smart, but I miss you!"

"I miss you too, Tay."

"How is Stanford?"

"It's great, I love my classes – but they are keeping me busy."

"I hear that, sister. I feel like all I do is sleep, eat, go to class, study, do homework, sleep – repeat."

Gabriella giggled, "Sounds about right."

"How's Troy? Does he like it at Berkeley."

"Troy is…good, adjusting, but good. He just auditioned and got accepted into the Theater & Performing Arts School!"

"Whoo! Good for him! What about basketball?"

"That's an adjustment too…he has so many practices and commitments, it's a lot different than at East High. But, he likes it, the coach rides him pretty hard though I guess."

"Troy can take it, he's tough."

"Yeah, he just gets frustrated."

"Understandable. How are YOU doing with all of it?"

"Well, Troy doesn't complain about it TOO much to me, so it's not-"

Taylor replied, unamused, "Ha,Ha, smarty. You know what I meant."

Gabriella sighed, she did know. "Honestly Tay…It's hard. Harder than I thought it would be. We are only in our 3rd week and every thought I have is clouded with how much I miss him – we haven't seen each other since we started school."

"Do you get to see him this weekend?"

"No," Gabriella whined, "There is some student cheering section camp out thingy."

"A what?"

"It's like a Meet & Greet hang out event between the players and the students who bought Student Section tickets for the basketball season. Troy didn't tell me much more than that."

"Interesting...," she took a beat before continuing, "But, I'm sorry it's been so difficult for you guys. Maybe things will calm down?"

"That's what Troy thinks, once they get closer to the season his coach will cut back on the amount of practice so as to not wear them out."

"That makes sense. Hang in there honey."

"I'm tryin'. We are making it work the best that we can for now, but we have to figure out something better than spending a whole month apart – it's killing both of us."

"What does Troy say about all this?"

"It varies between him being a grump about it, and being positive and encouraging. Mostly the latter." _Though, more and more the former_, she thought.

Taylor laughed, "Typical guy."

"Troy isn't typical."

"True, but honey…he's still a boy, so he'll fall into that category at least some of the time," she said in a 'tellin it like it is' tone.

"Well, he's trying…he sent me a video message this morning that I woke up to."

"Awww…that's sweet! What did it say?"

"It was just a goofy video of him dancing and singing the 'Good Morning' song from Singing in the Rain. Then saying how much he missed me and loved me, and to have a wonderful day."

"Awwww…that boy IS something special. I'll give you that."

"Yeah, he is," Gabriella agreed, smiling wide. "It just sucks not being together."

"Oh I bet!" Taylor's tone was suggestive.

"Oh, hush." Gabriella's face turned red.

"What?! Honey, it's true and you know it!"

"Well, not as much as you think!" she retorted.

"Oh, I think it's MORE than you think on his end."

"Taylor!"

"Gabriella, he's a red-blooded 18-year-old male, his hormones are raging and I'll bet his sex drive is in over drive. You know it is."

"He's not an animal Tay! I mean, sure…I MISS him, " she couldn't say the words out loud, she wasn't comfortable talking about sex with even Taylor, "But it's fine, it's not always on my mind…and he doesn't mention it a lot or anything"

"Well, then he's definitely relieving the pressure on his own."

What was she saying? Was she implying that Troy…"Tay!"

"What!? It's true and you know it, and probably healthier than, no pun intended, letting it all build up."

"Taylor! I'm NOT going to talk to you about Troy-. About him-. It's a private matter," she insisted.

* * *

"Bolton you're too slow!"

"Bolton! He's beating you because you're not moving your feet!"

"Come on 11, be faster!"

"Troy, you HAVE to get there!"

"God damnit Bolton! Take a seat, K(alin) switch in."

Troy, sucking wind, whipped a frustrated hand through his hair, sending droplets of sweat into the air, as Kalin rotated in for him and he took a seat on one of the chairs that was "the bench." Coach Masters had been yelling various different corrections all night as the team ran a stop & go scrimmage of sorts during practice. Troy didn't know what else to do, he was already killing himself: putting himself through hours and hours of solo practice, he practically lived at the gym when he wasn't sleeping, in class, at tutoring, or doing homework. He calculated that in the first 3 week of school he'd spent maybe, on average, only 8 total hours a day in his apartment. One day he was only there to sleep, all of 4 and a half hours, and then change clothes. Troy was lucky to remember to eat everyday, if it weren't for all the calories he was burning that sent his stomach into shut down mode he'd probably forget he required fuel other than Gatorade and water. To be sure, college in its entirety was testing his stamina. He loved having all the extra time outside of class, but all his "free time" he spent practicing, rehearsing for acting class, or doing homework and he still hadn't seen his uncle and cousins, nor had he talked to Gabriella for a couple days, and he also hadn't started his essay due on Monday. And…none of his extra work seemed to be paying off, coach was still on him, Troy didn't know what else to do. Maybe he just wasn't good enough to play at this level. It's a thought that had been creeping into his mind lately, and now that it played at the forefront of his brain it seriously bummed Troy out and brought on even higher levels of stress.

"Troy?" A voice broke into his thoughts, how long had it been trying to get his attention?

"Yeah?" Troy said, rattling his head to bring himself back to reality.

"Did ya want some water?"

Troy turned his head around to see a familiar face: green eyes, light brown shaggy hair, taller than him,

"Oh thanks, Spencer." He took the water bottle from him and squirted some into his mouth, looking out onto the court at the action.

"No problem," Spencer hesitated before adding, "It's not your skills Bolton, you just need to work on your speed and quickness."

"Huh?" Troy said, once again turning his face back towards Spencer.

"You're in here all the time working on your game, but you really just need to be faster physically."

"Great…," Troy sighed, "I'm just slow." A physical limitation, like height.

"You can imp-"

"Bolton! Are you paying attention?! I didn't take you out so you could gab."

Troy's head whipped back around, turning red, he answered back, "Yes coach, sorry coach." Awesome. Now on top of everything else Coach Masters thought Troy was goofing off. Troy couldn't catch a break.

* * *

"Troy? – Troy!" Gabriella called into the computer screen, she had been skyping with Troy for the past 20 minutes and he'd almost fallen asleep twice.

"What?!" Troy crankily yelled back, jumping awake.

"Troy, I'm just going to go, that way you can get some sleep before you have to be at the camp out."

"Nooo…I'm sorry, I want to talk to you – besides I don't have time enough for a good nap before I have to be there."

Gabriella sighed, "Troy…"

"Gabriella, please, I won't fall asleep again," he insisted, his voice a little too stern for her liking. He sat up in bed instead of lying down.

"Okay…fine… Well…what do you think I should do then?"

"Huh?"

Gabriella let out a frustrated sigh, what was the point in talking to your boyfriend when he wasn't even paying attention, "Trooooy…ugh…you're not even listening! What's the point?!"

"Well, I'm listening now!" he said impatiently.

"Fine…I'll repeat myself AGAIN: should I switch into the other section for my Derivatives class? I'll be done in the early morning on Fridays if I do, but it'll mean I have really long Tuesdays and Thursdays…"

"Babe, I don't know, why do you want to switch?" Troy could barely make decisions for himself, and the thought of making them for someone else stressed him out more.

"Troy…seriously? _Because_ if I'm out early on Fridays I can come see you earlier."

"Gabs, you KNOW I have practices on Friday anyway."

Gabriella couldn't help it, she was hurt by his comment, what in the hell had gotten into Troy? He was so grumpy, and so short with her more and more all the time…she knew it was a tough adjustment for him and he was tired, but he'd always softened with her. He'd said when he talked to her all his troubles and worries went away.

"Well, sorry, I thought since you have ALL day Friday off up until your practice it might be worth it…since we clearly never get to see each other. Sorry if I thought my boyfriend might want to weigh in on the decision."

"Gabriella, I said do what you want! You know I want to see you, but you also have to know I'm busy, so even if you're here we might not get to see each other that much. Just make a decision, I can't even think about this right now, I have so much shi-crap I have to do." Troy was growing increasingly irritable with the conversation – his lack of sleep, and stress about everything was cracking him and he hated that it was starting to come out at Gabriella. He didn't know how to stop himself, he heard the words coming out, but he couldn't shut them up before she heard them. He knew he was being a jerk, but it was as if he couldn't flip the switch that turned him back into the boyfriend he wanted to be for her. He hadn't even told her everything that had been going on – she too had a lot going on and he didn't want to burden her with his anxieties. Gabriella's face look stunned as she stared at him through the computer screen, stunned and hurt. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily at his outburst,

"Babe….I'm sor-"

"Troy…you need to get some rest." Her voice was oozing with the hurt he could see in her eyes, "You're like a completely different person, I know you're tired, I am too, but if we are going to make this work we can't keep having conversations like this one."

"I know, I-"

"And you look like crap."

Troy chuckled at this, and the tension, thankfully, broke. "Gee thanks, you really know how to compliment a guy."

"Don't even get me started. But I meant what I said Troy…what's going on with you? Are you sleeping enough?" Troy was silent then, contemplating if he should just come clean about all his worries and stress.

"Troy," she prodded.

Troy sighed, "I hear ya babe…I'll be better, I promise. I'm sorry…I shouldn't snap at you like I have been, and I shouldn't be so grumpy. Talking to you is my favorite part of the day by far, I miss you so much." He paused before continuing, "And if you want to switch your class then you KNOW I would love to have you here on Fridays…I'll make it work. For you…always."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Okay…I'll switch it then! And it also means I'll be in Shor's section, so that will be cool to have a friend."

Troy pursed his lips, Shor…of course. He wasn't threatened by him, but he just wasn't thrilled by how close he was to his girlfriend. It reminded him of that summer at Lava Springs when Ryan and Gabriella became two peas in a pod – he felt, in a SMALL way…replaced. But, he wasn't going to launch THAT discussion again, not now after he already was a jerk,

"Yeah, that'll be nice for you," he agreed, nodding. "So…you alone?" his voice was cheesily seductive as he smiled and raised his eyebrows up and down. Gabriella giggled,

"Troy!"

"What?" he laughed, but then suddenly his door opened and Troy looked up to see Lucas poking his head in,

"Yo, we gotta leave in like 8 minutes bro."

"Oh crap…thanks for reminding me."

"Sure thing." The door closed and Troy brought his attention back down to the screen, sighing.

"Gotta go?" Gabriella frowned through the screen, her eyes showing sadness.

"Yeah…" he moved the computer from his lap to the bed, and faced it out towards his room, a moment later Gabriella saw Troy's frame reenter the screen.

"Troy what are you doing?"

"Well, I have to change, and stuff before I go – so I can either hang up with you and do that or we can continue to talk while I multi-task."

"Hm…good idea."

Troy leaned down to the screen and smiled, "So," he said standing back up and taking off his shirt, "What do you have going on this weekend?"

Gabriella smiled shyly as Troy undressed further, taking off his shorts, she wondered for a moment if he was trying to mess with her, "Well, today I am going to be studying and doing homework most of the day and working on my mid-term paper then-" she paused as she realized Troy had made his way to his dresser and promptly dropped his boxers to his ankles. His profile was to her, so she couldn't see much below his belt, but her cheeks went red anyway – she'd seen him naked plenty of times, but watching him strip through her computer screen was somehow different. Troy who had opened the top drawer and was looking for a fresh pair, turned his face back towards the computer,

"Gabriella?...I'm still listening," he said. She noticed his demeanor and tone of voice indicated he probably wasn't messing with her: he acted as if he stood there fully clothed – nothing strange going on here. Gabriella knew if she had been Troy, standing in front of the computer completely naked, she would not look as comfortable as he did.

"Uh…then…then I'll probably see what Kinley is up to, or Shor…" she said, and she couldn't help but stare right at IT as Troy found his underwear, and turned full-on towards the computer,

"Sounds like a productive day," he said, and then he bent over and fished each leg through his boxers and pulled them up.

"Yeah…" she replied and watched as Troy found a pair of jeans and slipped them on,

"What about tomorrow?" he asked.

"Huh?"

Troy assuming she couldn't hear him moved closer, "What are you up to tomorrow?" he repeated.

"Oh, um, " Gabriella bit a small amount of her bottom lip as she now had a front row seat as Troy stuck his hand down his pants and adjusted himself, "Um…well I have a tutoring session from 8:30-10 in the morning." He finished making himself comfortable, and then zipped and buttoned his jeans – sealing away his manhood from her eyes.

"Anything else?" he questioned as he grabbed a Berkeley Bears t-shirt and pulled it over his head.

"Not really."

"Nice relaxing day then."

"Bolton! 2 minutes!" a voice came from the other room. Troy was pacing around his room, picking up clothing, putting it back down, picking up a bag and looking underneath, going back to his closet and searching through the clothes there,

"Hey babe…" he said as he went to the corner and searched through the laundry basket over there.

"Yeah?"

He stood back up and ran his hand through his hair to get his bangs out of his eyes and his head scanned the room around him, "You don't know what happened to my sweatshirt do you? I haven't been able to find it and I think the last time I had it was at Scott's…" He wasn't looking at the computer screen otherwise he would see Gabriella's guilty face. "I was going to wear it tonight, it's supposed to get a little chilly and I thought I'd wear it under my team jacket," he rose his head from his search to look at the computer, "Gabs?"

Gabriella bit her lip, making a face he knew well. He sighed, "You stole it didn't you." She was always stealing his clothes to wear: his t-shirts, his beanies, his basketball shorts, his sweaters, his button downs,…

"Yeah…" she smiled, she did have his favorite hoodie. It was one of the only ones he ever wore: it was blue/gray in color, had an abstract graphic on it of a basketball on it, and was super soft and snuggly warm. It didn't have any elastic waist or wrists either, which made it more comfy to Gabriella.

"Baaaabe…" Troy complained hanging his head.

"But but but…it smells like you." Gabriella put on her "cute" voice.

"Of course it does! It's the only sweatshirt I wear!" he said with an incredulous smile. He dropped his head, shaking it, "You know, you have SO many clothes, I don't know why you feel the need to steal mine – I'm going to run out of clothes pretty soon here."

"Yours are so much more comfy! And they have your scent, and it's the next best thing to having you here."

Troy brought his face super close to the screen, "You're lucky I love you." He stood back up and reached for a hoodie on the top shelf of his closet, slipping it on. It was a Berkely Bears sweatshirt, one he got for free from the team.

"So does this mean I get to keep it?!" Gabriella said in a high-pitched and hopeful voice.

"Ha! Nice try…but I want it back – it's on LOAN," he said coming back to the computer. He DID want it back, but secretly he loved that she stole his clothes from him and loved even more to see her tiny frame swallowed in his clothing. It was adorable. He momentarily wondered if all guys had this problem of their girl's stealing their clothes, or if it was just his klepto girlfriend.

Gabriella pouted, giving him the pleading eyes she knew he was a sucker for.

"Noooo…" he covered her face on the screen with his hand, "Don' .Try it." He smiled.

"Fiiiine, I'll give it back to you…" she relented with a sigh. He took his hand away.

"TROY! Gotta go bro!" Lucas' voice interrupted, making Troy sigh.

"I love you, baby."

"I love you…have fun at the campout thing."

"It'd be much more fun with you here…" he said before his face fell and his tone was more apologetic, "I'm really sorry about earlier."

"I know…" Gabriella's face also fell, remembering how he'd spoken to her.

"I'll make it up to you…I miss you, sweetheart."

"I miss you too."

"TROY!"

"COMING!" Troy's voice bellowed back, startling Gabriella. "Gotta go babe, I love you..mmmmmuah!" He blew a kiss to the screen.

"Love you too, Wildcat."

"Okay, love you, bye," he said quickly, as he clicked, and failed to hit the hang up button. So without his knowing, Gabriella saw as he grabbed his wallet from his desk, slid it in his back pocket, tousled his hair in the mirror, and sat down to slip on his converse. She heard th door open, but couldn't see because the computer was turned at the wall perpendicular to the door.

"Dude! It's 10:25…we have 5 minutes to get there."

"I'm comin'!" Troy stood up and grabbed/pulled at the crotch of his jeans, shaking his leg, trying to make it more comfortable Gabriella assumed.

"Bro, play with yourself later, we gotta go, no time for-"

"Shut uuup," Troy said in a blasé tone, disappearing from the frame and Gabriella heard the sound of someone pushing another.

"And you better not be jackin' off tonight in our tent either!" Lucas laughed.

"Alllright, shut it, James," Troy's voice said off screen with a tone that indicated he was no longer amused, but also not upset in the slightest. Gabriella heard a door close, and they were gone. Gabriella thought for a moment after she hit the hang up button on skype: was Lucas just messing with him or did Troy really…pleasure himself as much as Lucas hinted at. This wasn't something she and Troy had talked about, truth be told, it embarrassed her. And if he wasn't joking, how could Lucas know about it? Is this something Troy talked about with them? If so was he talking to his teammates about Gabriella in that way? Right away Gabriella dismissed this thought, Troy would never. She leaned back in her chair and sighed, Troy did say he dreamed about her a lot…but she thought he probably just took cold showers. Taylor seemed to disagree though…she believed all guys did it. It was hard for Gabriella to picture Troy pleasuring himself though. She decided to try and put it out of her mind for now, picking up a book and turning to where she left off to begin reading.

* * *

**Alright, hopefully that wasn't TOO bad a chapter...it's hard for me to write chapters where they are apart!**

**And just to ease anyone's mind that might be thinking it: I'm never intending on breaking Troy and Gabriella up...so the introduction of characters like Shor and Riker are not threats - just interesting spins to create a little drama here and there.  
And to be honest, Shor just came completely out of the blue to me - he wasn't planned AT ALL. Suddenly, I was typing about an arm stopping the elevator and out came this character and before I knew it, I created this whole family who I've now fallen in love with...so, very sorry if that whole conversation with Shor about his family was boring :\ But i fear it's not the last we've heard about them...sometimes I think the story is writing itself! :) The scene with Riker on the other hand I'd had in mind for a long time - it changed a lot from my original plan, but like I said: I just go where the story takes me sometimes.**

**Let me know what you guys think! As always: I'm open to any type of review: questions,comments,suggestions,etc :)**


	12. Campouts & Surprises

**A/N:**

**I know it's been forever guys! SORRY! Long story short: My house lost power for about 10 days during the holidays and then things were just kind of crazy.**

**Anyway, look for another chapter super soon because I already basically have it written. Sometimes I like to write a lot past the chapter to make sure I don't want to go back and alter anything.**

**Also, to the reader who commented about the name Saoirse and its pronunciation: Thanks for the tip! I did know it was Irish (I worked with an actress with that name and she pronounced it the way the Irish do - the right way). However, I actually named the character after a friend of mine who pronounces it differently (or "wrong" really). We call her "Shursh" for short, just like the character in this story. Not sure why her family decided to say it "Shursha" rather than "Sheersha" but...that's Americans for ya...we just love butchering words/names. :-) Sorry :-o**

**See yas!  
Kenzie Rae**

* * *

"This Campout is a way for the fans to interact with the team, build a unity, because you better believe there will be times this season that it's the FANS that pull us through a game when we hit a shooting slump, or the other team is up by 15." Coach Cleaves was giving the players a pep talk in the locker room before they all headed over to the field where the students were already pitching their tents for the overnight "campout."

"These fans spend hours waiting in line to be front row, they scream, yell, chant, cheer, and go crazy when we need them AND when we don't – so I think it's a nice gesture for us to give them some 1 on 1 time with us. I think it's the least we can do, for all they do for us during the season. So, you're going to be NICE, and you're going to be POLITE, and of course…have fun! There will be pictures, a Q&A, games, competitions, karaoke, food, and just hanging out….Any questions?"

"Man, coach do we really gotta sleep in those tents?"

"Jackson…if I gotta sleep in a tent with my gassy 10-year-old son, then you certainly have to sleep in a tent." The team erupted with laughter. "Alright, let's head over guys."

As they headed down the path away from the basketball arena Troy could see the field about 400 yards away, covered in a sea of tents. There were BBQs going, people tossing footballs, there was a giant moon bounce type thing, a blow up obstacle course, a stage, and he could hear music too. WOW. This was bigger than he thought,

"Dang! How many are there?!" Troy exclaimed to no one in particular.

"There's about 1,500 in the student section…so maybe about 700 are here? Give or take," Scott Saracen replied.

"Wow. That's…a lot of people."

"Welcome to the world of college sports Bolton!" Saracen smiled at him.

As they neared the field, Troy could see that already people were starting to gather by the entrance, and more we coming from the far side of the field. There was a fence around the whole field, meant to deter those without student section tickets from coming in and taking part in the festivities meant for those who purchased tickets. As coach led the team in, applause erupted, and people started hooting and hollering – then someone started singing the fight song and suddenly there was a whole group, maybe 70 people singing it as the players started weaving their way in through the people. The mascot was there too, as well as the cheerleaders. It was all a little over-whelming as people: girls and guys started coming up to Troy. The first being a girl with blonde hair, and blue eyes,

"Hey Troy! Can I get a picture with you?" The fact that she knew his name shocked him, he hadn't even played a minute of college basketball and this girl knew who he was. How? He realized that he hadn't answered her yet, and her face looked at him, expecting.

"Oh, yeah…uh, sure." She handed her camera over to her friend, and stood next to Troy. Troy started to smile when she wrapped her arm around his waist, something he wasn't expecting – he'd just met this girl, he thought it odd she felt comfortable enough to put her arm around him. Then he noticed other players around him putting their arm around the shoulders of fans, or around their waists, and then he thought about it: when famous people take photos with fans they almost always make like friends and pose as such. Not that Troy thought of himself as famous, AT ALL, but I guess to these student fans, the team and it's players were like THEIR campus celebrities. Troy slung his arm around her shoulder and smiled into the camera.

"Got it," the friend announced.

"Thanks so much!" the girl told Troy and started to walk off.

"Whoa, wait," Troy called after her. She turned back towards him. "What's your name?" After all, this campout was about connecting with the fans and getting to know them right? The girl seemed surprised, but pleased he'd asked,

"Natalie."

"Nice to meet you Natalie, thanks for…for coming out and everything…uh," Troy thought he should continue, "Uh…what's your major?"

"I'm a sophomore in the Education school," she replied, smiling, obviously happy that Troy had taken in interest in talking to her.

"Cool – I'm a freshmen…Theater."

"Oh, I know."

Troy's eyes widened at her response. She did? But before he could reply another person came up to him, this time a guy,

"Yo man, what's up?" He was shorter than Troy, and stockier too.

"What's up, I'm Troy," he said sticking his hand out. The guy shook it, but smirked as he did. Troy realized the smirk indicated that this guy too already knew his name and found it amusing Troy introduced himself.

"I'm Garren, nice meetin' ya man. Glad you came to UC bro."

"Thanks, glad to be here."

"Yeah…yo you think I could grab a picture real quick?"

"Uh yeah sure." Garren put his arm around Troy's shoulders, like they were old buddies, and Troy did the same. The picture was taken and, like he had with Natalie, he tried to strike up a conversation, but before he got the words out another girl was requesting a picture from him. Troy quickly realized he wasn't going to be able to talk to these people, not now anyway, he looked around and realized there was several other people in the wings, waiting to talk/get a picture with him. Glancing around he saw that players like Scott Saracen were completely surrounded by people. About 25 people later, two VERY short girls wanted a picture together with him, they stood on either side of him and he put his arm around both. Their heads were practically at his rib cage. They took the picture, but one of the girls asked for another,

"Could you maybe kneel down or something?" she looked up at him.

"Oh yeah, sure." Troy said, smiling, and then he took a knee. Now they were taller than him, but not by that much, and his hands slid from their shoulders to their waist – a nod to comfort.

"Okay, 1…2…3!" the camera holder counted and on 3, the Troy's complete surprise, the girls leaned in and kissed his cheeks, one on each side. He wasn't sure if that was normal or not, but he wasn't too thrilled about it – especially the way they sprung it on him. He stood up immediately, the girls giggled,

"Thanks!" and scurried away.

"Hey, could you sign my shirt?" a female voice said from Troy's side. Troy looked down at her,

"Uh yeah, you got a sharpie?" he asked. She presented him with one and he took it in his right hand, "Where do you want it?" He saw that other players had already signed, he noticed #20 and a signature right on the upper mound of the girl's breast – Durrell was number 20. Troy rolled his eyes, how could he do that? What an ass-hat.

"Here is good," she pointed to where her heart was, and then Troy realized – even if Durrell is a smuck, this girl TOLD him to sign her boob. Didn't mean he had to though. Troy signed her shoulder above where she pointed and added a "#11" next to his name.

"Thanks," she said, and to Troy's chagrin he thought she sounded disappointed.

"You're welcome."

Troy signed many many things, took even more pictures, and the crowd around him started to grow. Either these people already got all the "important" players and were now onto him, or more girls started to realize how "hot" he was. Troy wasn't deaf to the comments he heard from those waiting as he took pictures, too many of them spoke not of his basketball skills, but of his "perfect hair" or his "hot body."

"Can I get all the players to the stage please?" Coach Cleaves' voice rang out through the speakers that were set up next to the stage. Troy inwardly thanked the coach, he liked meeting with the fans, but after 30 minutes he was ready for a break. He started to make his way over, but the group around him followed, asking for pictures.

"We're here all night – there will be plenty of time to hang out with these guys later."

As Troy and the other players continued to make their way to the stage, fans stopped them intermittently to get an autograph or a quick picture. Everyone was on the stage except for Scott Saracen, Troy, and Jeremy Kent.

"Saracen! Bolton! Kent!…Get up here!" The three players finished with whatever fan encounter they were doing and then trotted away to the stage. They all stood up there, behind their coach who was at the mic,

"Glad you could join us fellas," he said as a large crowd gathered around the stage. Troy noticed that, not only around the stage, but all over the field people stopped what they were doing to listen.

"Well…WELCOME!" he announced and the crowd cheered, "Thank you all for coming, I'll tell ya what: my players and I look forward to this every year. It's not only a chance to meet all of you and join in in the festivities, but it also means we are THAT much closer to the season starting!" The crowd cheered again. "Are YOU guys ready for this season?! Because we are!" he yelled over the screaming crowd. "We are going to have some fun tonight, but first I want to introduce you guys to this year's UC Berkeley Bears Basketball team!" The volume of the cheers grew louder before dying out.

"Alright, let's start with our babies – your new freshmen!" More cheers.

"First up – a forward from Coolige, Arizona: Travis McClean!" Travis moved to the front of the stage and waved to the crowd, smiling. Everyone cheered.

"Next, all the way from Saugatuck, Michigan, playing center: Lucas James!" Luke moved and stood next to his roommate.

"And our final freshmen this year, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the back-to-back State Champions East High Wildcats - a guard: Troooy Bolton!" The cheers were louder for Troy's name as he stepped forward and waved/smiled at the crowd standing next to Travis and Lucas.

"Now onto our sophomores: from Los Angeles, a forward: Nathan Dean!"

"From San Diego, playing forward: Andre Walton!"

"And lastly, from Spring Valley, Nevada, playing guard: Kalin Schultz!" As he announced each player, the crowd cheered and they individually stepped forward.

"Next… JUNIOOOORS! We got from Atwater, California – our center: Dreeeew Cousins!"

"From Denver, Colorado – a forward: Drake "Day-Day" Tucker!"

"From Piedmont, California – a guard and forward: Jeremy Kent!" The girls screamed particularly loud at the mention of his name as he stepped forward.

"From Compton, playing guard: Durrell Allen!"

"And…now… for our SENIORS!" The crowd erupted in cheers.

"From Sacramento, our senior small forward: Jake Jackson!"

"From San Francisco, senior guard…: Sam Jenson!"

"And lastly…" the crowd got louder in anticipation, "Your senior CAPTAIN," more cheers, "From Malibu, California….." the crowd got so loud you could barely hear as the coach yelled out the name, "Scott! Saraceeeen!" The fans went wild as Scott stepped up to the mic, taking it from the coach as he handed it to him,

"What's up Bears!?" he yelled, letting the cheers die down before continuing, "We've been practicing hard and preparing to make this season a great one. And we know without you guys…" More cheers interrupted him, "without you guys we wouldn't have the amazing home-court advantage that we do. YOU guys inspire us when we're out there, YOU guys are our 6th man on that court!" The fans screamed their approval. "And I know we all, myself especially, feel so lucky to have such great fans, so THANK YOU!"

"Make it rain Scott!" someone yelled from the crowd.

"I'll make it rain tres!" Scott said imitating shooting a three-point basket, eliciting loud roars from the crowd.

"Scott will you marry me!?" a girl's voice screamed out from the crowd, making several people laugh. Before Saracen could come up with a good response Jake Jackson saved him,

"I will!" he yelled from the stage, getting more laughter.

"Alright, alright!" Coach Cleaves said taking the mic back from Saracen. "We're going to do a little Q & A now…so who has a question?" Several hands shot up at once, eagerly waving, "You, with the pig-tails."

"Is your family going to be here coach?"

"Yes! They are, they'll be here soon. My daughter, Lily had a dance rehearsal this morning. So she, my wife Nani, and my son Austin will come a little later and be here all night."

The coach continued to field questions, many had to do with the team and the schedule for the up coming season, but a lot were more personal in nature about the players. When it was a question directed towards a player there was a second and third mic that was passed around to them in order to answer. Troy had thankfully flown under the radar for a while until one girl decided to ask him a question,

"Troy, how are you so hot?" A question that earned a lot of girly screams from the crowd. Travis handed him the mic,

"Uh…" how was he supposed to respond to this?

"Yes Troy, why ARE you SO dreamy?!" Day-Day said into a different mic, creating laughter from the players and crowd. Troy was saved when coach moved on to the next question. Another question for Troy came up not long after,

"Troy, what do you like to do in your spare time?" a girl asked.

Troy was handed the mic and smiled, eyeing coach, "Uh…WHAT spare time?" Everyone laughed and Troy continued, "I even dream about basketball." There, that was a good response he thought. But, the questions kept coming for him,

"This one is for Troy: Are you a good dancer? And do you want to go dancing with me?"

"Uhh…I'm alright…And the only dancing I'm doin is around the defenders on the basketball court." He was getting the hang of this: dodging the awkward questions, but they got a little weird after that,

"Troy. Would you rather have backwards feet, or change gender every time you sneeze?" Troy's eyebrows raised in surprise and confusion at the girl's question as he was handed the mic,

"Uhhhh…." He let out a breath that was a chuckle, "That's…really weird." Everyone laughed, but then quieted down to hear his answer, "Um…well, I always sneeze in 2s or 4s…so I guess it wouldn't be so bad. It'd be like: Achoo!" Troy imitated sneezing, then looked down at himself in surprise, as if he was seeing himself turned into a girl, "Whoa! What the-?! - Achoo!" He looked down again, "Okay, back to normal." People laughed at his act as he continued, "It'd be super freaky, but…I can't play basketball with backwards feet – so…" Troy was definitely feeling more comfortable, even with the weird ones, but then one girl asked a question he was hoping no one would,

"Does Troy have a girlfriend?!" The players "Oooo'ed" and several other females cried out from the crowd as Troy was given the mic again, this time he had no idea what to say,

He cleared his throat, "Um." He looked out onto the quiet crowd, he didn't want to lie and have all these girls think he was single and available…but he also was afraid to say yes and then have girls try to find out who Gabriella was. He wracked his brain to try and find a witty answer, as the silence grew increasingly awkward.

"Bolton's dating the hottest chick in town, her name's Spalding!" Scott Saracen called into the mic, breaking the silence, saving Troy, and making the crowd laugh. "Spalding"…the popular brand of basketballs was the perfect, and funny, answer Troy was looking for and his captain bailed him out with it. His gaze connected with Saracen's eyes across stage and Troy nodded a "thank you" to him, which was returned with a nod.

The last question for Troy was his favorite, and it came from a girl on top of a guy's shoulders,

"Troy, can you teach me to be as awesome as you?" she smiled and so did Troy as he took the mic.

"Ya know what…there's nothing more awesome than being yourself."

* * *

Gabriella glanced at the clock, it was 3pm and she decided she needed a break from school work. She logged into her computer, and opened up google. She typed in "SPark 6", her roommate Kinley had heard of the band, and was actually a fan. Gabriella hadn't told her about Shor being related to them, she wasn't sure if it was something he wanted broadcasted. She clicked on the first youtube video she saw, probably their most popular song she reasoned. It was a music video for a song called "Written in the Stars" and as Gabriella listened she realized she had heard it before on the radio; it was a rocky pop sound and she decided she liked it. Next she clicked on a video that was an interview from a couple years ago,

"I'm Samuel, and I play bass."

"I'm Saoirse, and I play keys."

"I'm Sean, lead guitar."

"I'm Shane, rhythm guitar."

"Scott, I play drums."

"I'm Saywer, and I sing."

"And we're SPark 6!" the group said together. Gabriella examined them all: Sean was the tallest, and Saywer was the shortest except his sister. Looking at Sawyer was like looking at Shor, they could be twins. Scott was the only one without blonde hair, and the only one whose hair was exceptionally short, the other boys wore it shaggy – just like Shor.

"So you're all siblings?!" the interviewer asked.

"Yeah," they all responded, some of them leaned on one another, others had their arms around another's shoulders. It was adorable.

"SIX of you?!"

"There's actually 8 of us," Samuel responded.

"Yeah we have 2 other brothers not in the band," Saoirse added.

"And I bet their names start with S too then?"

"Yeah, there's Spencer who's a year older than me, and Shor who's a year younger," Sawyer answered.

"So you aren't the youngest Sawyer?"

"In the band, yes, but.." Sawyer paused because Shane's finger, whose arm reached around Scott's shoulders, was poking Sawyer's cheek. Sawyer giggled, leaning his head away, "But in the-" The finger pursued. "Ah!" he smiled, but this time used the back of his hand to apathetically shoo his brother's finger away.

"But..Shor.." Sawyer tried, but was preoccupied with the finger and let out another high-pitched giggle, so Sean finished Sawyer's thought,

"But Shor is the baby of the family."

"And you're all pretty close in age right?"

"Yeah, about a year apart – I'm 23, she's 22, 20, 19,18, and 15" he said pointing to each person down the line.

"I'm almost 16!" Sawyer corrected.

"Awww…that's sweet. But what's that LIKE?!…8 of you!"

"It's the best thing ever, we're all best friends," Samuel said. The others nodded and spoke in agreement.

"What do you guys do if there's a disagreement, is there someone who has the final say?"

"Well…we get along well and tend to-" Samuel started.

Shane and Sean interrupted at the same time, "We do majority votes," - "Have epic dodge ball fights." Everyone laughed at Sean's comment.

"Dodge ball?!" the interviewer asked, astonished.

"He's joking," Samuel clarified, but Scott spoke at the same time,

"Dodge ball to the death."

Shane continued, using a cheesy menacing voice, "And whoever lives…decides what's for dinner…" The group erupted in laughter again. Sawyer continued to giggle after everyone else, earning him stares from all his siblings.

"Ahhh! He's got the giggles!" Saoirse noted as Sawyer continued to giggle.

"Sawyer cover your laugh face," Sean advised him.

"It's terrible," Scott said using his own hands to shield his younger brother's giggle distorted face. Sawyer shoved his hands away and calmed his giggles. Saoirse giggled a few times.

"Oh no. Don't. Do it," Samuel said cupping his hand over his sister's mouth.

"We get the giggles a lot," Shane offered.

"They're contagious," Saoirse added.

"Bro, we should challenge other bands to dodge ball games," Sawyer interjected, his giggling finally subsided.

"Uh…Why?" Sean said glancing over to his younger brother.

"Because we'd win," Saywer shrugged, smiling. The group scoffed/chuckled at the younger's kind of "off the wall" idea. "It'd be awesome," he explained.

"Aaaanywaaaayys…" Shane replied, jokingly rolling his eyes, teasing his younger brother. Sawyer reached behind Scott and playfully pushed Shane, as he did Scott tickled the younger's side and Sawyer let out another giggle, jumping away out of frame. He stepped back in the frame, taking his place next to Scott who ruffled his hair before putting his arm around the younger's shoulders. Samuel got the group back on track,

"Don't get him started again…." He warned with a smile. "Yeah, anyway, like Shane said we do majority votes most of the time."

"Yeah, but Sam…he kind of….," Scott added.

"Sammy kind of decides things…" Saoirse helped her younger brother. She slung her arm around Samuel's shoulders. Samuel grasped her hand which dangled from his shoulder, his arm now hanging from hers casually. "Like rehearsal schedules, and things we need to work on and get done," she finished.

"And what's it like for you? 5 brothers in the band,_ 7_ at home?!"

"It's a blast," she started.

"She gets asked that all the time," Sawyer cut in.

"They keep me laughing all the time, I love these crazy guys."

"She's one of the boys," Shane revealed, "But…in a girly way." They all laughed. Gabriella finished the interview and then went on their website, their twitter, and all their other sites. Skimming through everything, she saw a tweet on Sawyer's page:

_" SawyerSP6: Thanks bro, I miss you! Now you're the last "kid" in the fam! RT ShorS8: Happy 18__th__ birthday to my best friend & bro. #NoLonger17s Love ya, wish I could be there with you guys."_

She clicked on Shor's twitter and saw tweets he retweeted from his brothers and sister:

"_ SamuelSP6: We're missing our bro SpencerS8 and our baby bro ShorS8. Love you guys – S6."_

_" SaoirseSP6: When you see a #StarWars reference and it makes you think of your little brother who isn't here :(,#Missyou Obi! ShorS8 – Love, Chewy"_

_" ShaneSP6: Hey, SeanSP6, #rememberwhen SawyerSP6 & ShorS8 filled our bunks on the bus w/ #packingpeanuts? HA. Good one guys, #PaybacksComing."_

_" ShorS8: AH! We can't text or call you guys! #SiblingsOnTour #EuropeProblems SamuelSP6 SaoirseSP6 SeanSP6 ShaneSP6 ScottSP6 SawyerSP6. – S2"_

_" ShorS8: When you get #fangirls going crazy around you b/c they think youre SawyerSP6 -_- #BrotherResemblenceProblems #CouldBeTwins #ImNotTommyDeanIJustLookLikeHim"_

Gabriella chuckled at the last tweet, Shor didn't let on how funny he was: pranks, jokes. There were several more as Gabriella scrolled down, and she found herself feeling mixed emotions: touched by how truly close this family is, but also sad for Shor – because he so clearly misses his family, and they him. She was going to click off and get back to work, but then another tweet caught her eye that Shor retweeted,

_" SPark6Official: We want to wish our brothers SpencerS8 & ShorS8 goodluck as they start the semester in college. We're proud of you! #GoBears! #GoCards!"_

Bears? As in UC Berkeley Bears? Did Shor's brother go to Troy's school?!

* * *

A few hours later at the campout things had really dialed down, there weren't crowds of fans surrounding the players for pictures and autographs anymore and now people were just hanging out. Troy, who had disappeared for an hour to take a nap in the tent he shared with Lucas, was now tossing a football with Day-Day as several fans stood by and watched. Some girls even filmed as Day-Day purposely tossed the ball high into the air, daring Troy to make jumping and diving catches. On one pass Troy dove, made the catch, hit the ground, rolled off his shoulder, and bounced back up ball still in hand. The people around applauded and Troy smiled, throwing the ball back to Day-Day in a perfect spiral,

"Alright, alright frosh…you got a little somethin' somethin'," Troy's teammate laughed after catching the ball.

"Hey Day-Day! Bolton!" Troy and Day-Day turned their heads to see who called them, it was Jeremy Kent. "Get over here – we're doin' races in the obstacle course!"

Troy and Day-Day walked up to see a crowd of people around the blow up obstacle course, set up for two people to face each other. The course was AMAZING: it started with a 5ft long tunnel that you have to dive/shimmy through, opening up to three giant inflated hurdles, then to ropes dangling over a 6ft wide ball pit – the idea being to swing across without falling in. On next to running through/over/around giant pylons sticking out of the ground leading to a 10ft long beam – a balancing act over another ball pit, then a tangle/maze of elastic bands you have to fight your way through, before running down a slender "hall" through inflated obstacles sticking out the sides to reach a big wall/steep hill with a rope and feet indentions to climb to the top where you finish the race by sliding down a 20ft slide. It was the greatest thing Troy had ever seen, and his little boy heart leaped out of its chest in anticipation. He felt like he did when he was 10 years old and his parents entered him in a giant mud race with different obstacles and challenges along the route – he had asked his mother every day how close the race was, and he got in trouble when he created a mud pit in the backyard to "practice."

"Okay, so here's the deal: a bunch of the fans already held their own little…tournament of sorts and came up with a Top 5. So now WE, the players, are going to do the same and then we will battle it out for crown victor!" Kalin explained. Troy looked at where he had indicated the "Top 5" fans were: 4 guys and one, rather small, but athletic looking girl. Troy was surprised,

"Damn, that girl must have some tricks up her sleeve."

"Ha! She was smoking all the guys! It was so awesome!" Sam exclaimed.

The players decided to do it "beat the winner" style and the first two up were Travis McClean and Kalin Schultz. Kalin went on to beat Andre Walton, Jake Jackson, Durrell Allen, and Jeremy Kent before Troy became the next challenger. It was going to be point guard vs point guard. The two smallest guys, an advantage in this obstacle course, lined up next to each other in front of the openings to their respective tunnels. They shook hands, and Day-Day counted them off,

"On your marks…" Girls screamed for Troy, some of the players rooted Troy on,

"You got this frosh!" And others encouraged Kalin's streak,

"Come on K! You faster than 'im! You got it!"

"Get set….GO!" Day-Day shouted and Troy dove into the tunnel. He realized right away he'd be at a disadvantage because Kalin had done the course several times already…but mostly against the bigger/taller guys, so maybe he hadn't had to push himself yet. Troy bounded over the hurdles and noticed that Kalin was already swinging across the ball pit. He leaped, swung, and landed just as Kalin made this way through the pylons. And just as Troy suspected, Kalin hadn't had to move as fast on previous runs and now has he sprinted across the beam Troy watched as he lost his footing and fell into the pit. Troy scampered across as Kalin tore through the balls to hoist himself out on the other end as Troy already made his way into the elastic bands. Troy ripped his way in, and consequently he got tangled and had to retreat back and fix the bands that had captured his limbs. His hold up meant that he and Kalin emerged from the jungle at about the same time, and they lost site of each other as they sprinted into the hallways. It was a foot race to the end, Troy knew he would lose it unless he took it up a notch. Troy ran as fast as he could, not slowing down at the wall as Kalin did to begin climbing, he took a risky move and used his momentum to jump. He jumped half way up the wall and scrambled to grasp onto the rope and find his footing in the indentations, but he did and a split moment later he was on top followed closely by Kalin. They slid down almost at the same time, but it was Troy whose feet crossed over the end of the slide first. Everyone cheered and clapped for Troy, Lucas bear hugged him, pulling Troy off the ground with his extreme height. Players slapped him on the back in congratulations.

"Nice move at the end there, man," Kalin said slapping Troy's hand in a sort of handshake.

"Thanks K…could have totally backfired," Troy edged.

"Yeah, you got lucky!" he joked.

Troy went on to beat Travis, Sam, and even team captain Scott. Scott might have beaten Troy had his foot not slipped out of the foot holds on the wall climb causing him to fall back onto the bouncy ground of the course. And so they determined their top 5: Troy, Kalin, Scott, Sam, and Durrell. The 5 players greeted the 5 fans, finding out their names: Lance: a small lanky kid with red hair; Andy: a guy a little taller than Troy and dark skin; Josh: a kid with an army style hair cut and about the same build as Troy; Tucker: a guy Troy would describe as a "surfer dude" with bleach blonde messy hair and gangly limbs; and lastly the only girl to make it through, Charlie: a 5'7'' athletic girl with caramel hair tied back in a pony tail.

They set it up tournament style, with eliminations each round. Round one had Troy up against Tucker, and the next round he faced off against Josh who had beaten Sam. Josh was a tough out, it came down to the wire with them, but ultimately Troy won. Then there were 3 left standing: Troy, Scott, and the girl Charlie. Scott had beaten Andy, and received a by because he was captain, and Charlie had beaten Durrell and in a really close match: Kalin. Troy couldn't figure out how she was doing it. Regardless they found themselves with 3 players,

"I'll rematch Saracen," Troy offered, doing what he thought was the gentlemanly thing to do.

"Nah," Charlie insisted, "I don't want any 'what ifs' goin' around when I beat either of you in the final…I'll take on Saracen now." She smiled confidently as the people around "Ooooooed."

"Alright then, let's go girl!" Saracen smirked. Their match came down to the end, both climbed the wall at the same time, but Troy noticed something he hadn't before: Charlie didn't use the rope, she stuck her feet AND hands in the footholds…like she was rock climbing. While Saracen had to shimmy his hands up the rope, Charlie effortlessly scaled the wall and beat Saracen by sliding down first. Another guy fell to this undefeated girl. Now it was going to be a battle of the undefeateds: Troy and Charlie. The two faced each other and shook hands before turning back towards the holes leading them into the course.

"For ALL the bragging rights – for Troy to say he wasn't beat by a girl, and for Charlie to rub it in ALL the faces of every guy she beat tonight…On your marks!" Day-Day announced, the crowd yelling encouragement. "Get set!...GO!"

Troy and Charlie darted for the tunnel entrance, and when Troy emerged on the other side he realized one advantage Charlie had: she was so slender she easily could crawl, not slide, through the small tunnel. He caught up to her though as she couldn't leap over the hurdles like Troy could. In fact he started to wonder if something was wrong when he made it through the pylons and was about to start on the beam when Charlie only JUST swung on the rope. Troy began shimmying across the beam, he was going at a decent fast walking pace, but out of nowhere Charlie whirled past him. Her dainty feet easily finding balance on the small beam as she literally sprinted across it. He finished the beam a couple steps behind her and realized another reason Charlie was so good: instead of tearing into the elastic jungle she carefully, but with a quickness Troy couldn't believe zigged and zagged in a path which made it so her body went practically untouched by the bands. She had perfected the path by this point, so even though Troy adopted her strategy he still emerged from the jungle a few paces behind her. Troy's speed made up the lost steps in the hallway and the pair started on the wall – Troy again copying her no rope approach. They matched, foot for foot, hand for hand, until the top when Charlie's many runs came in handy and she found herself 1 step ahead of Troy, starting the slide as Troy got on top. Not missing a beat Troy did the only thing he could think of, another risk: he launched himself off the top, jumping through the air, landing three quarters the way down the slide and somersaulted off the end. Troy hit the ground, _hard_, and didn't know if he'd won or not but his teammates pulled him up and smacked his back, noogied his hair, and congratulated him. So, he guessed he'd won!

As it turned out it was so close it was hard to tell, but ultimately Charlie's feet hadn't left the bottom of the slide yet as Troy was falling off of it. Troy was celebrated as he stood up more fully and groaned as he felt soreness in his lower back – well, no more gutsy moves like THAT from him tonight. Troy winced a bit as he made his way over to Charlie, sticking out his hand,

"That was one hell of a race," he said.

She shook his hand, "It sure was, impressive move at the end."

"Just tryin' to keep up with you!" he said smiling. She chuckled at his compliment.

"Nah – you were makin gutsy decisions before you started copying my awesome moves," she accused. Troy smiled sheepishly as he realized that she noticed him using her strategies to keep up with her.

"Well, they were smart moves – no wonder you beat all of us."

"All but you," she corrected.

Troy lifted one side of his mouth in uncertainty, "Iiiii dunno…I think ultimately I lost, that tumble mighta injured me a bit." He patted his lower back.

She laughed, "Better your back than your pride though huh?"

"Don't tell my coaches," he smiled. "You're name's Charlie right?"

"That's right."

"I'm Troy."

"Yeah, I got that…" she said slightly laughing.

"Right. So…Charlie…short for Charlotte?"

"Uhhh actually no. It's just Charlie."

"Cool…how are you so good at this?" he gestured to the course, "I mean, are you a professional blow up obstacle course runner?"

"Somethin' like that," she replied. She hesitated before continuing, "My brother was really into stuff like this, challenge courses and stuff. He started taking me along with him a while ago, so I guess you could say I learned my tactics from the best."

"That's really awesome – well, he trained you well."

She nodded, but she wasn't exactly smiling – something Troy found odd, but he figured she was probably tired, he knew he was.

"So are you majoring in kicking guys' asses?" he asked.

She chuckled, "No, no…I'm actually a journalism major, junior."

"Nice work Charlie!" a guy congratulated as he approached the pair, he wore black framed glasses, had dark short hair, and carried a camera, "Oh, you too Troy!"

"Thanks, Paul," Charlie replied.

"Thanks," Troy uttered.

"Troy, this is Paul, we work at the school paper together."

"Oh wow, cool," Troy nodded his head.

"Yeah – speaking of which…picture for The Daily Cal?" Paul smiled, picking up his camera.

"Ooooh no," Charlie said backing away, shaking her head. "Paul I'm all sweaty and gross, and I prefer to stay on the other side of the camera."

"You look beautiful Charlie, as always," Paul complimented. Troy smirked; he thought Paul might have a little crush!

"Right. Not falling for it," Charlie retorted.

"Troy, doesn't she look great?" Paul asked taking Troy by surprise.

"Uh…much better than me anyway," Troy replied.

"See? Come on Charlie, stop being a baby."

Charlie sighed and stepped to stand next to Troy, "Fine."

"Great! Okay, so flex your arms above your head – like you're champions!" Paul instructed. Troy let out a laugh, but did as he was told, rolling up the sleeves of his t-shirt so his biceps showed. Charlie, already wearing a form fitting tank top, also flexed her much less impressive muscles, but still decent ones for a girl.

"Grrrr!" she joked, making a grimace with her teeth. Troy looked over to her, arms still flexed, and laughed at the goofy site. Paul snapped a few photos, before instructing them once more,

"Okay, now a normal one." Charlie slung her arm around Troy's shoulder and he put his arm around hers, but then realized the position was a little awkward, so he dropped his hand to her waist.

"Okay smile!" Paul urged. The pair smiled, and he snapped the photo. "Perfect. Thanks!"

* * *

It was 9:50am and Gabriella was nearly done tutoring for the day when the girl she was helping interrupted their work,

"Gabriella…your 4 o'clock, there's a creepy guy that's been staring at you over there," Lucy indicated with a nod in the direction she noted. Gabriella lifted her head from the book,

"What?" she turned her head to look at the "creeper." The guy wore blue converse, slate colored jeans, a plaid shirt predominantly bright blue & dark blue with white and a small amount of pink, it was rolled up to his elbows, underneath he wore a grey v-neck shirt, and a bright blue beanie over his hair. He also had a charcoal colored canvas jacket slung over his elbow. The boy smiled when she looked at him, and her heartbeat quickened,

"Troy?!" she said quietly, but with unmasked shock. She got up from her table and scampered over to where he leaned up against a wall, he straightened up as she approached.

"What are you—How are you—when did you?!" she said excitedly, but in a hushed tone suitable for a library. He closed the last few feet between them, dropped his jacket, and wrapped her in his arms, pulling her completely off the ground. She squealed as her arms wound themselves tightly around his neck,

"I can't believe you're here!" she announced in his ear, she was breathing rapidly with astonishment and excitement. Her body was flush against his, his taking all the weight of hers as they embraced in silence, his arms tightly holding her. They just enjoyed each other's presence, both too wrapped up in the moment to say anything. Finally Troy lowered her back to the ground, and took her hands in his own,

"You have no idea," he said releasing one of her hands so his could caress the side of her face, "how much I've missed you." His blue eyes bore into hers with sincerity and longing, and she noticed how much his shirt and beanie really made his eyes POP out at her – further captivating her.

Gabriella let a small smile creep to her lips, "I missed you too, Troy." He smiled back at her. "But how are you he-" she was cut off when Troy's other hand came up so that her face was now caught between both his hands as he leaned down and kissed her on the mouth tenderly. He pulled back after a moment and kissed her forehead,

"I left right after the campout this morning, I had to see you. If I had to wait another week I would have gone crazy." She went on her tip-toes to peck his lips.

"Besides," he sighed, "I've been such a grumpy jerk to you lately, I had to make it up to you." He frowned slightly in apology.

"Oh Troy, you don't have-"

"Shh – yes I do," he smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Well…It's completely unnecessary, but I won't object," she grinned. He leaned down and Eskimo kissed her (rubbed noses), making her giggle.

"What did I ever do to deserve such a wonderful girlfriend?"

* * *

**I know there wasn't much Troyella in this one, but I gotta make ya miss 'em in order to make their reunions that much better right? :)**

**As always: THANK YOU so very much for the reviews. I definitely read them and take them to heart...and they are serious motivators. Thanks again and of course any and ALL reviews/comments/criticisms are welcome!**

**_Oh! And I need some help! Does anyone know what's up with the formatting in the doc manager? I used to be able to put multiple line breaks to indicate a small passage of time, but now its all the same and I don't really want to use the horizontal line every time. Does anyone know how to fix this? Hopefully it's not too confusing to read!_**

**Danke!**


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